Mind's Eye
by MuhiTatsu
Summary: AU NaruHarem. In this story, Naruto is taught a power that the ninja have never before seen from a very unusual teacher. A tale comprised of action, comedy, a little romance and things that are fun to read. Please give it a try!
1. Someone to care: Naruto meets Tatsu

It was a rainy day.

Uzumaki Naruto, age six, generally didn't like rainy days. They were wet, miserable and seemed to amplify his own distress. The one good thing about them though, was that almost no one was around to call him demon. Outside, he was free on rainy days. They were odd that way.

However this particular rainy day, he wasn't alone. A young man wearing a cape and coat the color of midnight walked down the rainy streets of Konohagakure no Sato. The way he was moving suggested that he had the world on his shoulders, and there didn't seem to be any way of removing this burden. Seeming not to really care on where he was going or doing, the man made his way over to the playground that Naruto was currently hiding in. The man sat down on a swing, idly beginning to swing, an unconscious action, preoccupied in thought.

The constant swinging eventually lowered the man's hood. He was a fairly young man, with hair close cropped and the color of freshly fallen snow. His face however, had lines weathered into it, as if he was much older than he appeared. He possessed eyes the color of gold, at a height of six feet even.

The man continued to swing for several minutes, and Naruto began to relax under the tunnel slide again. Therefore, he was quite surprised when the man said, "Hey there."

The man continued to swing. "Don't worry little one. I won't bite. Just passing by." He said in a morose fashion. "Where are your parents? Their probably worried about you."

Surprised that this man didn't send a harsh glare or word his way, Naruto looked amazed, then somewhat sad. "I don't have any nii-san. No one wants me. Everyone in this village thinks I shouldn't live and call me demon."

The man's expression didn't change. "That's rather odd. I've fought dozens of demons in my time… you don't feel like one at all."

These words, while almost inconsequential to the man, had a powerful effect on young Naruto. His eyes began to water, and he began crying, so happy that someone acknowledged him for the first time. Still crying, he ran into and tackled the man out of his swing. The man lay dumbfounded, with the still crying boy clutched onto him.

"Hey hey, don't cry little one. You'll… get me wet." The man stated awkwardly.

Sniffing, Naruto smiled. "Gomen ne, Nii-san. I'm just happy, that's all." He let go of the traveler. "Thanks for making me feel better." And Naruto's smile, a true smile, could have warmed even the coldest of hearts. The man gave a wan smile in return and returned to the swing, not noticing that the rain was beginning to lessen. Naruto, wanting to help this man, joined him on the other.

"Ne, Nii-san, why are you so sad?" Naruto asked tentatively.

The man became morose again at this. "It's because… I've lost my friends. And every time I try to make new friends wherever I go I fail at it. I miss having friends, that's why I'm sad."

"You know Nii-san… I'll be your friend."

His eyes widening, the man looked towards the outstretched hand that little Naruto offered him. Tentatively, he grasped the hand.

"You would be my friend? Just like that? I didn't think friendship worked like that."

Naruto furrowed his brow. "I wouldn't know, but I want to be your friend, so that's that!" he pouted. "Besides I thought you've had friends before?"

"It's been a very long time since I've seen them little one. I've almost forgotten everything about friendship. However… I am glad to be your friend. Thank you." The man gave Naruto a real smile this time, and both could feel warmth from their feelings. The man shook Naruto's hand.

"I'm Muhi Tatsu. Pleased to meet you."

"Uzumaki Naruto. Same here, Tatsu-niichan!"

As the two shook warmly, neither of them seemed to notice that the rain had stopped, the sun coming out to welcome a new beginning.

Five years later…

It had been five years ever since Muhi Tatsu and Uzumaki Naruto had met each other, and this day was to symbol a new beginning. Naruto hadn't been seen in Konoha for that time at all, and it seemed as if only Sandaime Hokage knew what had happened to the boy. Whenever pressed about where the boy had gone, either from the council or various villagers, he only responded:

"Naruto is in a place where he is loved, and can gain strength in body and mind."

This cryptic answer only raised more questions, but since Naruto hadn't technically been a ninja when he had left, he couldn't be declared a missing ninja. Hyuuga Hinata seemed especially strange, as she had a knowing look in her eyes whenever the boy was mentioned, even though almost nobody noticed.

Five years had passed since then, and no Konohagakure no Sato was in for a bit of a surprise…

A boy was returning to Konoha for the first time in what seemed like a lifetime. Towards the central Hokage tower the boy strode, with an aura of both confidence and strength as he went forward with a calm smile upon his face. He was tall enough that most people would have considered him fourteen, even though many would be surprised to learn he was only eleven.

Wearing aviator sunglasses, the boy possessed long blonde hair that reached down to his shoulders, with bangs in front. Many curious onlookers swore that they were seeing Yondaime Hokage again, even though they knew that such a thing was impossible. He wore a loose leather jacket, a small black shirt, and loose jean pants. To top it off, he wore a pair of tight-fitting sandals. Most curious to those who knew him however, was that Uzumaki Naruto did NOT have his 'whiskers'.

Finally reaching the Hokage tower, Naruto walked to a pair of curious guards and raised a palm. After a few seconds, the eyes of the guards appeared to glaze over and they appeared to be in a trance. Walking in, to an onlooker, Naruto would have appeared to have disappeared.

Meanwhile, Sandaime Hokage was either experiencing a very stressful day or a bad case of early senility. His Grandson had tried to 'attack' him twenty times that day, Nara Shikamaru had to be taken to the hospital for a case of under-exhaustion(meaning he was so lazy that the medic-nins had to have Shikarmaru go through physical therapy.) and finally, it looked as if there were only eight Genin in the academy who had the potential to pass their sensei's tests. And he KNEW this, because Sandaime had his all-seeing crystal ball.

'Tired Oji-san? Well, I suppose that's to be expected at your age.'

Giving a start, Sandaime quickly turned towards the source of the voice with kunai in hand, years of experience taking over. Whoever spoke ducked, yelping in surprise.

"Gee that's a fine hello for someone you haven't seen in FIVE YEARS!"

Sandaime calmed down and stared with surprise at the person he had caught.

"Naruto? You've come back?" The old man let out a beaming smile. "Oh it's great to see you! I…" Sarutobi paused. "Wait, why are you here? I thought you were going away forever."

Naruto let out a tiny sigh. "Well, I kinda still want to be Hokage Oji-san. Can't do that without becoming a ninja, can I?"

"But, what about your…"

"Tatsu-sensei didn't want me to at first, but he realizes how important it is to me. He says as long as I visit him occasionally, its okay." Naruto answered. "Did I make it in time to go to the academy? I know some things, but I still need to learn how to be a ninja." He smiled sheepishly.

Sandaime gave a chuckle. "Yes, of course. The ninja academy starts tomorrow, so get ready okay?"

"Hai, Oji-san. I'll be there, dattebayo!"

Sandaime smiled, a bit of the previous stress he had felt melting away. Then something occurred to him.

"Naruto, wait just a minute. How was it that you got past my guards?"

Naruto shrugged. "It's not my fault your guards need more training to fight illusions of the mind. Or whatever you call them around here."

Naruto continued to walk out, Sandaime still trying to understand whether Naruto meant he had somehow learned amazing Genjutsu, or something he had yet to understand…

For the next year or so, Uzumaki Naruto had worked in the ninja academy to learn 'ninja stuff' as he called it. In practical exercises, he learned at a frightening pace. While most children placed in the academy learned how to use Chakra at a pace of around four months to a year depending on the child, Naruto learned how to use it within a month. When questioned on this ability, Naruto remarked that he had already had training in a similar ability, though when pressed, no answers were forthcoming. However the fact remained that Naruto was simply amazing. Naruto had learned Henge no Jutsu and Kawarimi no Jutsu in mere weeks. His Taijutsu abilities while not the strongest or fastest, were still made up of movements that wasted nothing and were incredibly efficient. Naruto also used the academy library periodically, reading books usually having to do with Konoha history and the people in said village.

That being said, Naruto did have one weakness. His Ninjutsu needed a quite a bit of work, as after two straight months of trying, he still hadn't perfected Bushin no Jutsu. After meditating on the problem, (and weirdly, he had stayed like this for an entire day without pause.) and speaking with his somewhat unhelpful teachers, (although a quick wave of the hand had solved the problem of irrational hatred he had sensed with Mizuki, and helped Iruka come to his senses regarding something, although Naruto didn't know what.) he had learned that the problem was Chakra control. It was in trying to find help with this particular problem that the normally quiet and reserved Genin made his first friend.

"Sakura-san, may I walk with you for a moment?"

Stunned out of her Sasuke-induced daydream, Haruno Sakura shook her in and glanced in surprise at the boy now speaking to her. Uzumaki Naruto rarely if ever spoke, and even then, he had never spoken to his peers. She thought he was nice, in a way. She quickly nodded to his question. Class had just let out, so they began to walk outside.

"Yes, what do you want Naruto-san?"

"Well…" Naruto fidgeted nervously. "I was wondering if you could tutor me in Chakra control. The books I have read on the subject don't explain it the same way a person would, and I would appreciate your input in the methods I have been practicing."

Sakura raised an eyebrow. The boy who was tying for number one in class with Sasuke was asking HER for help? Still, it was rather flattering.

"Maybe…" she drawled, "But I want something in return."

"Oh? What would that be?" Naruto asked somewhat nervously.

She gave him a smirk. "I want you to help me out regarding Sasuke-kun. Something that'll help me with him. You're almost as strong as he is, maybe more, so you would know how strong guys feel about things."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "So, I just want to be clear about this. You want me to help you in regards to Uchiha-san and how you feel about him?"

Sakura gave a nod.

"Alright then. Let me get a scroll…."

After about a half hour of writing out the contract, (Tatsu-sensei had told him that with contracts, one always needed to make them without a concrete meaning so that they could always work to your advantage.) Sakura signed the contract first. Then, to show his promise, Naruto signed said contract in blood after biting his thumb.

"Naruto… you didn't have to go that far…"

"Yes I did. Tatsu-sensei always says that one of the best ways to make friends is to show them that you can depend on them."

Sakura's eyes widened. "You… want to be my friend?"

Naruto gave a sad smile. "Sakura-san… I want to be a friend of everyone. I just don't know how."

Sakura gave a somewhat sad smile back. Then, she changed it to beaming and let out her hand. "I'm Haruno Sakura. Wanna be friends?"

And with that, Naruto's own smile could have melted any cold that came his way.

For the next two months, Sakura helped Naruto with his Chakra control, and he actually managed to help her improve somewhat as well. He had come across several methods of not only improving control, but also increasing one's Chakra reserves and ways of manipulating one's Chakra. The control methods mainly consisted of the infamous 'tree-climbing' and 'water-walking' methods that were popular amongst Genin to Chuunin level Shinobi within Konoha. They both had spent just about a week perfecting the tree climbing, two to master the water-walk, mainly because Sakura had used the method to build up her Chakra reserves.

After this, Sakura's Sasuke-obsession, while still strong, had somewhat dwindled. She had confessed to Naruto that she felt somewhat inadequate having not come from ninja clans like nearly everyone of her classmates, and wished that she could have her own 'style'. After hearing this, Naruto asked a question that in a way, rocked her world.

"If your control is so good… why don't you just use Chakra itself for a style?"

After hearing this, Sakura spent a sleepless night thinking of what Naruto had meant. While taking a bath in the furoba, Sakura began to notice how the water shaped and reshaped itself constantly, rearranging itself into different sizes and lengths. It was then that she felt a sharp jolt of surprise, an epiphany finally coming to her.

Running out to one of the many spare training areas, Haruno Sakura, the ever studious and smart kunoichi, had skipped a day of class she had become so excited. After a few hours, one could see her begin to concentrate and Chakra began to slowly extend out of her palm. Eyes closed, she formed the Chakra into a long, slim, pointed shape. She then drew back her hand and with a yell, thrust the Chakra into a nearby log. A loud 'WHUMP' sounded, and the Chakra dispelled. A drop of sweat came down from Sakura's forehead and she glanced at the log. A small but long hole extended all the way through the hard log. Sakura gave a loud squeal of pleasure.

"YATTA! Chakra Spear, success!"

And so Sakura became indebted (in mind at least) to Naruto, and knew she had finally found someone she could depend on. (1) She had found her niche, and she had him to thank. After the hug she had surprised him with, pouncing onto his back, and thanking him profusely, he simply smiled.

"I may have steered you in the right direction, but you did the work, the thinking, and how to shape the Chakra. You had the talent Sakura-san. You should thank yourself."

With this, Sakura just hugged him even more tightly, and a Naruto turning blue hurriedly tried to find some way of breathing without offending his friend.

Finally, the day had come. After two months of training and aiding the other, Naruto and Sakura had become firm friends. However, Sakura still was crushing on Sasuke, thinking that it might be even easier to gain his 'love' due to her increased ability. She had begun working on variants of the 'Chakra weapons' technique, and was feeling more confident in her abilities. As she became more and more amazed at what she was beginning to accomplish, she explained her surprise to her friend. Naruto had just smiled.

"It's no surprise to me that you've come into your own Sakura-san. Your name has always implied that you would blossom into a beautiful flower."

For some reason, this made Sakura not only blush, but her heart began to beat just a tiny bit faster.

But back to the matter at hand. Naruto was preparing to make good on his end of their deal, and even Sakura, with her extensive knowledge of how energy like Chakra worked, was stumped. Naruto was in a classic meditation position, sitting with his legs crossed and his hands on his knees with his eyes closed. He pressed his palms together, and a powerful white aura began to emerge from him. The aura grew in intensity, twisting and writhing in power and Naruto slowly stood up, gradually moving towards Sakura.

"Sakura-san, please close your eyes."

After two months of working with him, Sakura had learned to trust her friend and complied. Ever so slowly, the faint whisps of white energy that had continually wafted into the air before began to dissipate. Extending his palms forward, one could see the energy had surrounded Naruto's palms in a sort of ethereal, golden glow. Before he finished, Naruto whispered almost imperceptibly:

"Forgive me Sakura-san. You may think at first that this is a curse, but believe me, it's a blessing."

Naruto then finished and brought his palms to Sakura's forehead. The glow began to trail down her body, and she began to feel somewhat warm. As the glow completed going it's way all across Sakura's body, she let out a gasp and passed out.

My first Naruto story. Please read and review, and check the author notes for some things you may be wondering about.

While Sakura doesn't seem like she was depressed or anything in the academy, we never see her with any really close friends. That and by the time she begins to go for Sasuke, she breaks her friendship with Ino. My point of view is that she was actually somewhat lonely due to that, and if she had had a good friend, she would have been more properly motivated. And no, I don't think her rivalry with Ino regarding Sasuke counted, because neither of them focused on being stronger, just on shallow things really. I know she's kind of OOC, but Naruto is too. And he's out of character for a reason you'll see eventually.

For those of you wondering if this is going to be another fic in which Naruto becomes overpowered, or his teacher is, don't worry. For a good comparison think of it this way. This Naruto is actually great at Genjutsu, but his fighting style doesn't revolve around pounding the crap out of everything. It's more ninja-like. Also, his Taijutsu forms are good, but in a straight fight between someone like him and Lee, Lee would win due to speed and strength. This Naruto is very smart and clever, but in terms of power, he's nowhere near even Kakashi, let alone Orochimaru or Akatsuki. He may come up with interesting ways of fighting, but he's no powerhouse.

Again, please R+R.


	2. Sakura blossoms! Naruto: Student Teacher

Haruno Sakura slowly began to become conscious. She unconsciously felt that she was not in the training area she and Naruto had been in, but rather, was covered and laid down in her soft, comfy bed. Feeling the bit of anxiousness we all feel in the morning when we realize that we cannot stay asleep any longer (or keep trying, but find that it doesn't work), she began to slowly open her eyes.

While everything before her started as a blur, she blinked once or twice, and things became clear.

Very clear.

For no apparent reason, her mind had never felt as peaceful as it did right then. Naruto? Yes, yes, he had done something to her, but she knew he had a good explanation for it. After all, he had made Sakura feel so free. No worry about going to the academy today, it was a Sunday. Wonder how Sasuke was.

And then Sakura thought, 'well how about Sasuke?'

She had laid back down on the bed, her eyes idly staring at her white ceiling. Sasuke? Well, he was good looking sure. A good Shinobi most likely. Has the emotions of a tapeworm though.

Sakura then gasped. Was she really thinking about Sasuke in such a way? Yes, yes. The more she thought about this, the more her mind sped up.

Is Sasuke a nice guy? Not really.

Does he ever just try to be nice? Not that I've seen.

Does he ever talk with anyone in a tone other than annoyed? No.

Does he seem arrogant?

Why is he so closed off?

Is he really worth all this hassle?

Can you ever reach him?

Do you really love him, or is it just infatuation?

That thought cut deep. With that, Sakura finally realized what her mind and her heart had been trying to tell her, constantly battled by hormones, her peers and a desire to be seen as someone who had something worthy.

She had never been in love with Sasuke, just the idea she had had of him.

_I wanted to prove myself. I wanted to show that I was strong, stronger than those girls who had bullied me, stronger than Ino who had to save me!_

_But…_

_That's not really being strong. That's just being arrogant and selfish. Even if I spent a decade trying and trying to get Sasuke, would they even care anymore?_

_Would I?_

Continuing to think, Sakura idly thought of Naruto again. He had said this might have been a curse or a blessing. In a way, it was both. She was quite angry with him for doing such a thing even though she had never asked for it. She had never shown Naruto what her 'Inner Sakura' could do, but she felt it was just punishment for such a thing.

However…

He HAD helped her. Their contract didn't specify HOW exactly the blonde was supposed to help her, just that it did. It was a good lesson, in a way, especially for Shinobi.

Naruto also didn't seem like the type of person who would willingly hurt her. He was shy, serious, and a much sweeter guy than she had thought possible. He had helped her get stronger, and was able to cater to her training needs in a way much better than those at the academy.

Feeling this immense train of thought begin to wear off, Sakura began to wonder especially about this infamous Tatsu Naruto was always talking about.

_Tatsu-sensei says to always be nice when you meet a person, even if they seem disconcerting._

_Tatsu-sensei told me always to be nice to pretty girls._

_Tatsu-sensei made me who I am._

She had no idea who this Tatsu was, as he was certainly no Shinobi, (as Naruto had told her) but from Naruto's descriptions of the man, she always pictured him as a wise old sage, deep in some mountain. Briefly, she entertained thoughts of Naruto being raised in a monastery and meditating bald. She stifled her giggles, and decided enough was enough.

Especially when her rumbling stomach reminded her that it was time for breakfast.

After eating quite a good deal more than she usually had for breakfast, (Sakura had finally realized that she could use more energy if she was to take training more seriously.) Sakura began to look for Naruto. She didn't know exactly where he lived, but it was somewhere near the east side of town she had heard. However, after a long time searching, Sakura found that Naruto was nowhere in the city itself, so of course he was at THEIR training ground.

Indeed, Naruto stood leaning against a wooden pole. Rather than his normally calm smile however, he looked rather forlorn and sad. Sakura came forward, confused.

"Naruto…hi."

"Sakura-san… I… I… I'm sorry!" Naruto let out tearfully.

Eyes widening in surprise, Sakura gaped while Naruto went on.

"I had no right to tamper with your mind, even if it was to help! You're my first, and best friend!"

He continued to rant and rave until finally, Sakura lost her temper and let out a little bit of 'Inner Sakura'.

"**GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF! SHANNARO!"**

This punch apparently was enough to get Naruto out of his self-pity, and he became even more surprised when Sakura give him a tight hug.

"Next time you want to help with something… just ask me, okay?"

"Um…sure."

Feeling quite liberated, both at realizing that she had become stronger, and that her friend was feeling better, Sakura was hit with determination.

"Naruto…-kun, can you think of anything else to help us become stronger?" she asked.

Naruto smiled. "As a matter of fact…"

Although Naruto and Sakura had by this point already surpassed the requirements to become Genin, they continued to train diligently.

Naruto's Chakra control improved a great deal, although he still wasn't able to perform a proper Bushin no Jutsu, as the ability required such little Chakra that he would need a level of control even better than that of a medic-nin to do so. Because he would most likely not be able to learn said technique in time for the exams, Naruto instead was able to create illusions of himself similar to the technique. However, the difference was that only someone looking at Naruto himself would think so. When Sakura had asked him how he had learned such a skill, he only remarked that again, Tatsu had taught him.

In the meantime, Naruto continued to work on all of his abilities.

Sakura herself was becoming no slouch either. Taking the Chakra spear concept further, she developed a whole line of Chakra weapons. Most noteworthy among these were a whip, a shield, a barrier, a sword, a bow and arrow and last but certainly not least, a gigantic mallet. These were limited to physical damage, but were still incredibly effective.

However, this was not the only usage she had gotten out of her 'Chakra-ryu'. Sakura had also figured out how to extend Chakra strings. Using said strings, she would stick into internal organs and would often use the strings to bind, incapacitate or trip her foes.

Continuing to build her Chakra reserves, Sakura also trained often with Naruto in Taijutsu, mainly in physical exercises to help build up stamina. They would constantly spar together, and even though they both worked hard, Sakura could tell that Naruto was holding back in their matches. Especially seeing as how Naruto could for some reason, nearly always predict her movements.

Still, she was very satisfied with her progress. After another month or so of training, Sakura decided to 'cross the Rubicon', and surprised even Naruto by publicly challenging Ino to an exhibition match. No stakes, no prize, just a fight to see who was better. Word soon spread, and Iruka-sensei decided to make it a special event at the academy for parents to watch. However, it wasn't only their parents who had come. For some reason, several Jounin, a couple of Chuunin, a few ANBU members and even the Hokage himself had come. As was the custom for a Shinobi duel, both girls needed a second. Ino had asked Sasuke of course, and also of course, he had turned her down. So instead, Shikamaru was dragged to the fight after having been hurt due to 'pillow taking'. Sakura surprised many of her classmates, and even the Hokage by having 'Muhi Naruto' as her second. They had discussed it before, and Naruto was adamant that Konoha should just forget the 'demon brat' ever existed. The fight was about to begin, and both girls stepped onto the field.

Ino grinned in a cocky fashion. "I'm surprised you even challenged me, big forehead girl! I hope you're prepared to lose!"

Sakura, her normally long hair tied into a long braid, just stood calmly. "Ino… I shall prove to you that I have become stronger than you can imagine."

Ino's eyes widened at this confident, unflappable Sakura. Where was the crybaby who needed her help against bullies? Where was the girl who would constantly compete with her in the littlest of contests? In vain, Ino tried once again to shake Sakura emotionally.

"After this fight, I'll be the one to get Sasuke-kun's love!"

Sakura just shrugged, and let a bit of her 'Inner Sakura' come forth. "As far as I'm concerned, you can have him. He's never going to let me in, so what's the point? He's an 'avenger' sure. Well Sasuke can shove it if he can't realize that he's not the only one who's had a hard life."

Openly gaping now, Ino wondered if the Sakura in front of her was using Henge no Jutsu. Their referee, Iruka-sensei, was wondering the same thing, but couldn't detect any traces of Chakra usage. Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba and even Shino all looked at her with surprise, than began to chuckle, respect earned from them. Naruto just smiled, proud of his student and friend. Tapping her foot impatiently, Sakura asked,

"Iruka-sensei, are you ready yet?"

Seeming to have come out of a daze, Iruka shook his head and regained his composure. Clearing his throat, he explained the rules.

"This will be a single round exhibition match between Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino. Any tools, Taijutsu, Ninjutsu and Genjutsu are allowed. Killing is forbidden, and victory is gained when an opponent is either made unconscious, unable to battle, or gives up. There is no time limit. Are both fighters ready?"

Still seeing Sakura's unnerving calm, Ino nodded anyway. Sakura nodded in turn.

"Very well then. Hajime!"

Backing away from each other, the two girls started off. Sakura began by throwing her limited number of Shuriken and Kunai, not aiming them for Ino, but rather for the trees, stumps and ground around the surrounding area. Confused, Ino was distracted for a second, but then began to quickly form seals. Sakura finished off her weapons throwing and as Ino began the last seal, she leaped using a Chakra enhanced jump. Ino stopped and threw three kunai in her path. Sakura quickly formed a seal, and the three kunai were embedded into a log.

"_Kawarimi?"_

Ino barely registered the sound of footsteps before she heard a shout:

"BLUNTED SPEAR TACKLE!"

Quickly, Ino registered an immense sensation of pain around the middle of her body, vaguely seeing in her disoriented state that Sakura had what appeared to be a battering ram made of Chakra around her arm, and said ram had knocked her for a loop. Painfully landing on her front, Ino began to use her hands in hopes of getting up. On her hands and knees, Ino vaguely noticed a trickle of blood come down her mouth and slowly began to get up. Sakura was nowhere to found, and thankful for the reprieve, she used bushin no Jutsu in an effort to distract Sakura and gain time to rest. However, after about five minutes, Sakura leapt out of a tree, and her aura flared.

To her horror, Ino noticed that around Sakura were six Chakra strings, all attached to the weapons she had thrown earlier. However, what truly alarmed Ino was that said strings went through six of her body's vital points, connected to the Shuriken on the other side. Meaning that if Sakura pulled out the Shuriken and Kunai she had used, there was a good chance that she could die.

"Ino, I do not wish to hurt you. Please, give up!"

Sighing, and realizing that Sakura looked barely winded, Ino raised her hand.

"I, Yamanaka Ino, give up."

Sighing in relief, Iruka-sensei gave a proud smile.

"Winner, Haruno Sakura!"

The crowd, who had looked in astonishment for almost the entire fight, cheered loudly, clapping at the success of the incredible, and yet almost unheard of, female ninja Haruno Sakura.

Remembering certain pearls of wisdom Naruto had shared from his ever so mysterious sensei, Sakura walked forward and helped Ino to her feet. Then she extended a hand.

"Good Match, Ino-chan."

Gaping again, but giving a small smile, Ino shook her hand.

"Sakura…-chan. How did you get so strong?" she asked.

Smiling wanly, Sakura replied. "Everyone has the potential to be strong Ino. I just had someone point me the way, and it helped more than I could have imagined."

"Who pointed the way?" Ino asked in surprise.

Sakura just pointed to a beaming Naruto in the crowd.

"Muhi Naruto? The silent guy?"

"Yes. You might want to talk with him some time. He has things to say you might be interested in listening to."

Sakura ended the conversation. While this was going on, the crowd commented.

"Sakura suddenly seems a lot prettier than before. Wonder how she got so strong?" Kiba remarked grinning.

"Yeah. I thought Ino would have beaten her for sure, huh Shikamaru?" Chouji said through a mouthful of his favorite black-kettle chips.

sigh "Women are troublesome, but I guess Sakura is a little less troublesome now. The planning behind that trap was good." Guess who said that?

"Yes. Her coordination impressed me." Shino surprised nearly everyone by saying more than three words.

And Muhi-Uzumaki Naruto just smiled proudly.

In the meantime, four Jounin were fighting amongst them with Sandaime listening in with an amused smirk. The topic of choice was who would get Sakura on their team come graduation, or in Maito Gai's case, how to get a 'beautiful flower blossoming in the springtime of youth to teach his adorable students burning with silent passion'.

"She could aid my ever youthful student Tenten in controlling Chakra strings to control her weapons more easily!" Gai shouted for what seemed to be the millionth time.

Yuuhi Kurenai and Sarutobi Asuma just rolled their eyes, not considering Gai's argument valid. Kakashi, who had been reading his beloved 'Icha Icha Paradise volume 6: One in hand is worth two in the bush' , merely raised his head as if just listening.

"Huh? You say something Gai?"

Gai's face went into shock while trying to figure things out in his head; the remaining three made their cases.

"Her Chakra control would make her an ideal Genjutsu student, and I could relate to her more easily being a woman." Kurenai argued.

"Yes, but I could train her in weapons usage and how to improve their capabilities myself." Asuma countered.

"Well, unless she dies from second-hand smoke first." Kakashi commented idly. "I would be able to teach her a little bit of everything."

"Yes, everything about Icha Icha Paradise, chronic tardiness and mysterious eating habits." Kurenai commented viciously.

Sandaime, while amused at first, grew irritated. "Enough of this! You are aware that I end up making the final team selections, are you not? I will make sure that Haruno Sakura ends up on a balanced team, like standards mandate. Is that clear?"

Ashamed, the Jounin muttered, "Hai, Hokage-sama."

Having made her way over to Naruto, Sakura surprised him by quickly glomping him and giving him a tight hug.

"Thank you Naruto, for helping me feel strong. Is there anything I can do in return for you?" she asked.

Naruto, feeling very proud and happy after having had steered one person in the right direction, and having it pay off tremendously, only said one thing.

"Could you help me make more friends like you?"

Although she had thought the request strange at first, Sakura realized that Naruto was severely lacking social skills and didn't understand exactly how to make friends. Their friendship had come somewhat as an accident, but it HAD worked well. Seeing as how Naruto's method of 'pointing people in the right direction' and working with her to help had borne them friendship, Sakura decided to use this method for other people as well.

A good majority of the academy students were not strong, talented or useful in almost any way. While it could be argued that they needed said help more than others, Sakura could see that a good majority of them had enrolled into the academy for the wrong reasons.

Nearly all of the Kunoichi enrolled had, like herself, trained only in an effort to see or try to win Uchiha Sasuke. It was rather sad really. The only standout other than Ino and herself had been Hyuuga Hinata. Her shyness probably would make her a good friend to Naruto, she mused.

The Shinobi were in some ways worse. Many of the males enrolled were in the academy to 'get girls' 'kick ass' or in several alarming cases, had odd fetishes or loves of violence. The only ones that seemed at least somewhat dedicated were the ones from various Konoha clans: Shikamaru, Chouji, Shino, and Kiba were the only ones she could see Naruto getting along with.

So, she had all of them meet with Naruto and herself(for 'coaching') at various times, seeing as how they were quite interested in the boy who had gotten Haruno Sakura from merely average to low Chuunin/High Genin level in such a short time. While nearly all of them were interested in getting better at least SOMEWHAT, Shikamaru was merely curious.

Initially when he had met Kiba, the brash and loud boy had been doubtful that Naruto could teach him anything new or powerful. After consenting to let him use Akamaru in a spar with him, Naruto had proved to Kiba that while his teamwork was to be admired, his individual skills still needed more variety if he wanted to make sure that his partner could be kept safe. This was proven when Naruto displayed an insane amount of speed, easily dodging a Gatsuuga the two had thrown at him, and taking Akamaru out quickly with a devastating heel drop. Naruto then proceeded to take Kiba himself out using an uppercut on the quickly speeding Kiba head-on, finishing with a brutal roundhouse kick to the face. Humbled, Kiba decided that asking for help wouldn't kill him, especially when Naruto, almost eternally silent, asked but one question:

"Akamaru is your friend Kiba. Don't you want to make sure he's protected?"

The next day, Kiba did in fact ask Naruto if he had any advice. The boy just smiled again, and gave Kiba a scroll with his name on it.

Enclosed was a list of suggestions that Kiba could tell much thought was put into. Some of these included:

_Tip 1: The cornerstone of a Shinobi is stealth and that one surprise strike. I don't know much about improving stealth, but see if someone can help you with it._

_Tip 4: If the Inuzuka clan can use Chakra to enhance their sense of smell, why not use it to enhance other senses as well? Hearing, touch and even taste have their uses. I wouldn't suggest eyesight though as the Hyuuga clan might get pissed. And try doing the exercises blindfolded for extra effect!_

_Tip 6: Your speed seems to be quite an asset. Try to increase your speed by wearing weights. You can get some fairly easily at weapon shops._

_Tip 9: Experience always makes a Shinobi better than just training. See if you can find sparring partners. Yes, partners, plural. More variety will make you a better Shinobi._

_Tip 12: Your Tsuuga move seems to indicate that you have knowledge with rotations. Try experimenting more with this. I might suggest spinning while standing, similar to a tornado. This may be able to deflect projectiles and other things. Just don't call the move Kaiten, whatever you do!_

A week later, Kiba came in wearing weights, looking fairly beat up, but happy. Following him was the equally beaten up form of Haruno Sakura and the statuesque Muhi Naruto. As he took his seat, he began to put on a blindfold.

For the last three months before the academy graduation exam, Muhi Naruto had become quite popular. The infamous 'student teacher' impressed not only his classmates, but Iruka-sensei, Sandaime, and quite a few Jounin as well. While one might have thought that Iruka would have been jealous, he simply didn't have the time to focus on individuals that Naruto did. Naruto didn't teach just anyone, and he even once told Iruka he was quite impressed that he hadn't burst a blood vessel before. Iruka still remembered that day, as it was the one he realized that while Naruto was constantly silent, he was their number one most surprising ninja.

Naruto helped a fair number of people, and through sparring, exchanging tips, and (at Sakura's suggestion) going out to eat a fair number of times, he began to make good friends.

Most of the students were only interested in him because he was 'popular' and usually he had only given them basic training scrolls with no personalized instruction. After spending time around his peers, Naruto slowly began to grasp how social concepts worked, and realized that he didn't need everyone to like him, just the people who he liked.

Suitably impressed with how Naruto had aided Sakura and gotten Kiba to concentrate a little more, Yamanaka Ino had taken Naruto out to lunch, Shikamaru and Chouji tagging along. After Ino had described her particular fighting style and abilities, Naruto had asked the two boys the same thing. Surprised that he would take any interest at all, Chouji slowly, but gradually told him. Shikamaru sighed, saying it was too troublesome. Then Naruto asked if he liked to play Shogi. Needless to say, the almost unflappable Shikamaru was nonplussed, but after several moments of awkward silence he responded in the affirmative.

The next day, Naruto had given Ino and Chouji personalized scrolls and began a (somewhat) rivalry with Shikamaru. Idly, the deer-raiser wondered why he had said something so troublesome.

At the same time, Hyuuga Hinata managed to work up the courage (of course, she was dragged by Sakura) to ask if Naruto could give her any advice as well. After spending a sparring session with Hinata, he determined that her main problem was confidence. Simply put, Hinata thought too much during combat, and seeing as how her thoughts constantly strayed to how 'weak' she was considered, Naruto decided on a different way of teaching for her. These sessions mainly focused on teaching Hinata meditation and methods of focus, as he had no idea how to improve on her confidence. After many of these lessons, Hinata began to spar with her classmates, and after many near wins, and several wins, her confidence began to slowly and gradually improve. After a smiling Hinata had told this to Naruto and thanked him for doing so, he could only look nonplussed and dumbly agree.

Naruto did enjoy the occasional game of Shogi, but his other habits were somewhat strange for those who didn't know him very well. Whenever he wasn't studying, training or sleeping, he nearly ALWAYS read manga. On a survival exercise they had undergone, he had once packed his entire backpack full of manga, as he was 'getting interested' in five different stories. He enjoyed movies, and liked good food. Naruto at this point wasn't a ramen addict, as Tatsu-sensei had beaten that habit out of him (not literally) around his ninth birthday.

The last person he had been asked for help from, namely Shino, he had had trouble figuring out what kind of advice to give. After a long sparring session, the two had gone off for several days. When they came back, they had seen Shino give the boy a bow on his hands and knees, with Naruto looking embarrassed.

As for Uchiha Sasuke… well, if he had ever asked, Naruto might have considered giving some help. He hadn't though, and Naruto's friends were surprised that when they had asked him about it, it was the first time they had actively seen any kind of dislike on the 'student teacher's' face.

Naruto himself continued to work on everything he knew, and also started to learn sealing, now that his Chakra control was better. It started when he asked Iruka-sensei for a book on making exploding tags, and interested in the subject, he continued from there.

Finally, the day came. The academy exams were to be taken that morning. However, the Jounin sensei who were to pick students from the graduates had become perplexed after realizing that said students were no longer the people the Jounin sensei had assumed. So, at Sandaime's request, and because of the success of Sakura's match months ago, something special was to happen after the exams had finished.

The graduates… were to have an exhibition tournament. The prize? An extremely rare, Raiton jutsu, and rumors abounded of a personal lesson with Hokage-sama himself…

Okay, second chapter out. Sorry about the wait, it took a little while to get into the right frame of mind. Hope you enjoy. (Am I going too slow?) Sakura's 'Blunted Spear tackle' is basically a high speed thrust of Sakura's Chakra Spear, but non-lethal. It's pretty much almost exactly the same as Shin's Spear Tackle from EyeShield 21 if you've ever seen that.

And yes, I know that the title of Kakashi's book is EXTREMELY perverted (If you understand the meaning.) and am wondering if I should put the rating of the story up. Any input is appreciated.

Please read and review


	3. Exhibition Matches! Naruto pwns Sasuke?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately, because if I did I would have had another Chuunin Exam, Kishimoto, you sellout baka!) and I don't own Ranma ½. I also don't own the place I live, the clothes I wear, or the food I eat!

The day of the exhibition match had finally come. As expected, none of Naruto's friends had any trouble passing the Genin exam itself. Thanks to Naruto's tips on Chakra, control, the three jutsu specialties, and Shinobi fundamentals, his friends had actually found the basic Bushin no Jutsu to be much easier than they had expected. As for Naruto himself, his ability to implant false illusions into the minds of others had worked like a charm. Iruka had thought it was odd that he felt a small tingle in the back of his brain, but proudly awarded his fellow 'teacher' a hitai-eh.

Naruto had felt it odd that nearly everyone in the class had passed, and was surprised at the ease of the test. While resting in a playground to prepare for the exhibition, he began to puzzle out the answer as to why. Then Naruto remembered what he had learned about the various wars of the Shinobi nations, and first hand accounts of various battles. In most cases, the survivors were a cut above the rest and were usually described as people who could cut through swaths of ninja. He also remembered that Konoha's Jounin population was quite low compared to other nations, but they tended to have more 'legendary' ninja than others. It was with a heavy heart that Naruto realized that most Genin who didn't show quite a bit of potential in Konoha became what Tatsu-sensei had called 'Cannon fodder'. They were meant to be used as foot soldiers, and also to help contribute to the ninja economy by learning alternative trades. Naruto recalled that Genin skilled in Chakra control for example, used Chakra in sewing. It could also be used in cooking, gardening or blacksmithing to name a few. Those who weren't satisfied with such a life often became apprentice Samurai in hopes of becoming one of the few sworn to the daimyo of various nations. While the Samurai were not quite as powerful as the ninja, they far outnumbered ninja and could use Chakra to a limited extent. Although, Naruto mused, maybe such professions were needed for some people. After all, it was difficult in and of itself to survive, let alone stay sane in the dark world of the ninja…

Clearing his head, Naruto realized that the competition had already started. He took a quick glance to the standings board which the academy teacher Suzume was keeping track of. Glancing quickly, Naruto noticed that all of his friends had made it to the next rounds, and Sasuke was currently set to fight. Naruto closed his eyes disinterestedly, making sure to listen for the whistle signaling the end of the match. Being an exhibition, the tournament was meant to be quick and the rules weren't much different from Sakura's match with Ino all those months ago. The only real difference was that (with the help of an Earth Jutsu) a ring had been put up, and if a person landed outside of the ring, they would lose. Of course, every student was participating in the matches, but Naruto knew that the first and second rounds would be a joke. His friends wouldn't fight each other until the third round, and he knew that most of them could take out the other Genin with little effort. Naturally, Naruto had confidence in himself, but he was more worried about his friends than about himself.

Naruto heard the whistle that signaled the end of the match about twenty seconds later, and slowly began to walk up. He glanced at Suzume, and the teacher gave him a wan smile. The academy sensei had been pleased with his efforts to help students, as even in the worst students there was slight improvement in at least one area. Smiling back, Naruto stepped into the ring with one of the few students who hadn't ever spoken to him, a girl whom he recalled Ino telling him had bullied Sakura and others. Ami something. Iruka, who was acting as the referee, lowered his raised hand.

"HAJIME!"

Neither of the two students did anything for a few seconds. Ami grinned confidently, waiting for Naruto to make the first move.

"_Heh. This guy fancies himself a teacher does he? Probably a geek. Should be easy!"_

Rather than moving, Naruto spoke.

"I hear from Ino-san that you are a bully Ami-san. Well, let me tell you…"

An slight aura of power was released from the boy and Ami felt herself beginning to feel fear, gradually feeling more fear as he went on.

"…I dislike bullies."

The instant Naruto finished speaking he exploded into action. In fact, he moved so quickly Iruka could barely see what had happened next. Naruto leapt like a torpedo and buried his fist into Ami's stomach. The power in the thrust launched her forward and Ami flew backward INTO a tree with such force that an Ami shaped hole appeared in the next few seconds. The crowd looked at Naruto with wide eyes and jaws on the floor.

Regaining his composure after a few seconds, Iruka made the proclamation.

"Winner…Muhi Naruto."

Watching on the other side, Uchiha Sasuke's eyes widened, and he smiled in a sort of lustful excitement.

"_If I can beat Naruto…I'm one step closer to HIM."_

The next round happened just as Naruto had predicted. He and his friends had no trouble dispatching the other students they were facing, even if Shikamaru had spent most of his fight sleeping in a nearby tree. The audience got a good laugh out of that, especially when the shadow user had asked "Morning already?".

In the third round however, things became interesting. It started with a fight much like the first and second rounds, a 'nameless' academy student being taken out easily by Shino and his bugs. It was the fights that ensued that were interesting.

In the second fight, Kiba and Shikamaru had faced off. Kiba had begun to prepare himself, but before he could do anything, Shikamaru gave up, saying he didn't feel like fighting. Bewildered, Iruka declared Kiba's victory and Shikamaru began to walk off. Although Kiba began to get angry, a quick glance from Naruto had calmed him as Kiba remembered Shinobi tip number seven: always take any advantage an opponent can give you. Realizing that Shikamaru had allowed him to conserve energy for the semi-finals, Kiba smiled and walked back to where the last contestants remained, and noticed out of the corner of his eye that Shikamaru was busy dodging his angry mother, who was wielding a rolling pin with murder (or chores depending on who you would ask) in her eyes.

Sakura and Chouji had fought in the next round. While Chouji had made great strides in his training, it was clear that Sakura had an advantage with all of the training she had undertaken at Naruto's side. Chouji had taken the route of a wise Shinobi at first, hiding in various trees and using Bushin no Jutsu in hopes of confusing Sakura and landing a crushing blow with his Baika no Jutsu: Meat Tank technique. While Chouji had begun to learn the partial multi-size techniques, he still had trouble with them. That being said, he did manage just once to land a gigantic-sized punch. Unfortunately, Sakura had pulled up a Chakra shield at the time, and with a relentless Taijutsu barrage had won the match.

In the fourth match, Hinata was paired up against Ino. Both girls had improved in the months since they had gotten Naruto's help; While Ino's father still didn't believe she was ready for the higher level techniques of the Yamanaka clan, she had improved in all of her basics, namely Chakra control, Ninjutsu practice, stealth and weapon aim. Unfortunately for Ino, as Hinata had become more focused in her training, she had trained at a level only near Sakura or Naruto's. She had kept this training a secret for the most part, so it came as an immense shock to her father and sister when, as Ino was about to win with Shitenshin no Jutsu, Hinata repelled the jutsu with a perfectly executed Kaiten and took advantage of Ino's disorientation to win the match. At seeing their shocked faces, Hinata gave a satisfied smirk.

In the final match, Naruto was to fight with Uchiha Sasuke. While Sasuke looked at Naruto with a look of excitement, Naruto merely raised his eyebrow and wondered idly if the boy was a homosexual. It wouldn't surprise him seeing as how Sasuke had continually avoided female attention, and once glimpsed what Naruto had guessed (in horror) to be a photo of himself, shirtless and working out. Of course if the photo had been of Sasuke himself… well, he was not only a homosexual but was having a ego trip that had never been seen before. Even if his guess was incorrect, the thought still gave Naruto quite an interesting idea.

Iruka had started the match, but neither fighter had moved. After about two minutes, Sasuke began to speak.

"Muhi Naruto… you shall truly be a worthy opponent. You should feel proud. When I defeat you, I will be closer to HIM." Sasuke drawled.

Appearing to be cleaning his ear, Naruto replied, "I guess I was right then. You ARE a homosexual!"

At this statement, everyone except Naruto stared in surprise for a few seconds. Afterward, nearly everyone who understood the statement laughed uproariously, especially Naruto's friends. Sasuke, who had gotten angry at first due to Naruto's statement, grew even angrier as he listened to the crowd's laughter.

"No you idiot! If I defeat you I can be closer to my brother's level!" Sasuke bit out.

Naruto seemed to stare in surprise. "Wow I knew you were a homosexual, but incest too? The Uchiha clan was really messed up!" The last few words were said in a slow drawl, much like someone from our world would hear from someone using drugs.

The crowd, amazed that Naruto was not afraid to bring up a subject as touchy to the Uchiha survivor as Itachi, stood surprised, but then roared with laughter again. For Sasuke, this was the final straw.

With amazing speed for a Genin, Sasuke charged Naruto with a punch. Displaying incredible reflexes, Naruto dodged the attack easily. Sasuke continued his barrage, constantly trying to land a hit on the blonde, but never landing a blow. If one looked closely, and had experience with Chakra control, they would notice a dark blue aura surrounding Naruto, his face so impassive one might mistake him for Shino. Maito Gai, who had come after witnessing Sakura's fight, was one of the few ninja who noticed that Naruto was leading Sasuke into a spiral, a potentially suicidal move. However, Gai could tell that something else was about to occur.

Finally Naruto reached the center of the 'spiral' and stopped. Confident, yet still angry, Sasuke charged forward. However, before he could finish, Naruto quickly thrust his fist upwards in an uppercut. The results were nothing short of amazing. The only one who was able to hear what Naruto called before the attack had been Gai, but the phrase ended up leaving him with even more questions, if possible.

"Hiryuu… Shoten… Ha."

A tornado exploded forth, and Sasuke began to blast upwards. Nearly everyone in the crowd who hadn't fainted was hanging onto something in an attempt not to be sucked into the towering cyclone. At the same time, Sasuke was being viciously torn by the winds within the cyclone and at the apex of the tornado almost passed out from lack of air. The winds died down, and Sasuke, barely conscious, felt an immense sensation of pain as he plunged into the hard ground. In shock due to the pain, Sasuke nearly lost consciousness as Naruto stepped forward. He only said one thing, but it made quite the impact on Sasuke.

"Uchiha…the more you wallow in your hate, the easier you are to defeat. I proved that today."

As the shaken Iruka declared Naruto the winner, Sasuke finally passed out, his dreams reflecting on the words he had heard.

After the relatively unknown Muhi Naruto had defeated Konoha's 'vaunted prodigy' Uchiha Sasuke, the fights that took place in the last round were somewhat lackluster. That isn't to say that they were boring, but after Naruto's incredible win in just one blow, the remaining fights simply didn't come close to that level of excitement.

Shino and Kiba had fought first in the Semi-finals. It was clear in this match that Kiba had improved, as he never went for Shino's bug clones, always seeming to know which was the real Shino. This was due to Kiba's sensory training, as his increased hearing had allowed him to distinguish between the clones and the real Shino. Kiba had also become better in speed, strength and agility. However, because he had constantly ignored Shino's clones, and their Chakra draining bugs,Kiba had soon found himself sapped of his strength, collapsing in exhaustion with Shino being declared the winner.

The fight between Sakura and Hinata was almost as exciting as Naruto's from the round before. Both girls seemed equal, never giving up any ground to the other. When Hinata used Jyuuken thrusts, Sakura countered by dodging or using her Chakra shield. When Sakura attempted a Chakra arrow, whip or even the dreaded mallet, Hinata used her Kaiten to deflect the weapons. The two girls stared impassively at each other, both looking quite winded.

"_I don't think I can beat her like this." _Sakura thought. _"I was planning on using this against Naruto, but I have to prove that I'm strong!"_

"_Wait for her to strike, and then when she's distracted, throw the kunai." _Hinata thought in turn. She carefully began to wrap an explosion note around one of her kunai.

As if hearing some unseen signal, Sakura charged her fist full of Chakra and thrust her fist into the ground. The moment after she began, Hinata put Chakra into the note and threw it onto a patch of earth that was near Sakura. The effects were nothing short of explosive.

To even Naruto's surprise, Sakura had caused a deep rumbling in the earth, Chakra traveling underground and finally coming up to explode the ground near Hinata's feet, blowing her out of the ring. At the same time, Hinata's explosion note had done its job well, blowing Sakura out of the ring as well.

As both of the girls had landed outside of the ring, Iruka sensei had been forced to call the fight a draw. Naruto would advance to the finals against Shino…right after the ring had been repaired.

A fifteen minute intermission had been called, and Naruto was collecting the unconscious girls. Placing them into a comfortable position onto a tree, ten minutes passed before they woke up. They opened their eyes hesitantly, and then widened after realizing what had happened. After seeing Naruto, they blushed, partly out of embarrassment, partly out of shame. Seeing their sadness, Naruto blinked in confusion.

"What's wrong ladies? Do you not feel well?" he asked.

Starting, Sakura and Hinata replied almost completely in unison. "Physically yes, but I wasn't strong enough to defeat her. I wanted to test myself against you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto blinked again, but then gave off a wan smile. "I know you did, and I know you two are disappointed; but, you know what?" he said in a mischievous tone.

"What?" the two girls replied, almost in unison again.

To their shock, Naruto bent forward, and kissed Sakura on the forehead and Hinata on her cheek.

"I couldn't be more proud of either of you."

Naruto glanced toward Iruka-sensei, who was motioning him to come up. "Sorry girls. We'll have to see each other after the fights. Wish me luck!"

Sakura and Hinata, still with faces the color of a fire engine, could only nod dumbly in reply. Before he could rush off, a voice and a long array of blonde hair blocked his path.

"You didn't forget about congratulating me, did you Naruto-kun?" Ino asked playfully, hands on her hips.

"Of course I didn't forget Ino-san." Naruto replied in an equally playful fashion. "You've made amazing strides yourself, I must say. And because you've done so well with such little time, I'm going to show you a little trick Tatsu-sensei taught me."

Naruto took Ino's head in his hands, took off his shades, and used his sapphire eyes to stare into Ino's own glimmering orbs. Mesmerized, Ino only realized seconds later that Naruto was giving her was she had heard of as a French Kiss. Naruto disengaged the kiss about five seconds later, Ino's head feeling like it was going to explode she was blushing so hard.

"Wish me luck…Ino-chan."

Naruto put his shades back on, stepping into the ring where a grinning Iruka and an ever-patient Shino awaited. If Naruto had looked behind him, he would have seen the rare sight of Yamanaka Ino fainting; and if he had stayed just a few seconds more, he would have seen the sight of a man with hair the color of snow walk up and catch her, chuckling.

"It looks like my Little One has learned well."

With a smile and a flourish, Naruto walked onto the newly repaired 'ring'. Smiling, Iruka proclaimed,

"Final exhibition match: Aburame Shino vs. Muhi Naruto… Hajime!"

Naruto was ready to spring into action. However, before he could even begin to make a step, Shino began to speak.

"Iruka-sensei… I give up."

A gobsmacked Naruto's eyes bugged out, only distantly hearing the load groan that the audience let out. Finally, he regained his composure to ask the only question on his mind.

"Shino…uh, why, how…what…huh?" Naruto said eloquently.

Shino gave a quiet little sigh. "After learning that new ability you helped me learn, I started to realize that I needed to become more skilled. However, I realized, and my bugs have confirmed it, that you are at a much higher level than myself. Therefore, when I have more experience… we shall meet again."

Slightly mollified, Naruto began to smile. However, he almost fainted when Shino bowed down on his hands and said,

"Thank you for you help…Shishou.(1)"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

After a beaming Iruka presented him with the Raiton(Lighting Element) scroll, and to Naruto's continuing surprise, a silver trophy, Naruto stepped out of the ring.

As Naruto heard applause from all around him, he couldn't help but feel warm inside. He had already began to prove himself to the village…

It was a shame though, Naruto thought to himself, idly looking through the crowd.

"_I kinda wish Tatsu-sensei was here…"_

Still looking left to right, Naruto paused and began to focus on a head of white hair. Jumping up using a Chakra enhanced leap, Naruto nearly fainted in shock for the second time that day. Seeming to go on autopilot, Naruto slowly walked until he reached his destination.

Finally making it to the place he had spotted from his leap, Naruto noticed idly that Sakura, Hinata and a still passed out Ino were waiting for him, along with one other person. Said person gave a beaming smile.

"You've done well…Little One."

Muhi Tatsu had come.

Shishou: Means 'master'. Highest form of respect anyone can have for someone, therefore it's shocking that Shino of all people would say such a thing.

**Hiryuu Shoten Ha (**Rising Dragon Ascension): A powerful technique in which the user makes their emotional state as cool and calm as ice, while at the same time making sure to get their opponent's emotional state hot and bothered, whether it be in anger or lust. Leading the opponent into a spiral, the user makes an uppercut to have the two opposing energies clash and explode into a tornado, using the opponent's own strength against them.

**Jyuuken(Gentle Fist): **The Hyuuga clan's signiature Taijutsu(hand to hand combat) style, it is extremely dangerous to opponents. Due to the Hyuuga bloodline ability Byakugan, the Hyuuga clan are able to see and push Chakra into internal organs, heavily damaging their opponents and can even burst the heart and brain if enough force is applied.

**Kaiten(Whirl):** Another signiature move of the Hyuuga clan, the user expels Chakra from all of their tenketsu(opening points) and spins like a top, using the rotation to form a dome-like shield of Chakra, making it a supposed absolute defense. If enough Chakra is applied and pushed into the rotation, it can also expand like a miniature cyclone.

**Baika no Jutsu(Multi-size technique): **The Akimichi clan's self-made special ability, Baika no Jutsu essentially uses Chakra to expand and grow body parts. While at first Chouji can only expand his stomach, and later, individual parts of his body, the end result is a technique which makes the user into a giant if mastered properly.

Revised A/N: Okay, judging from the hits I'm getting this story is pretty damn popular,(2500+ hits? HOLY CRAP!) but I REALLY REALLY would appreciate actual reviews. Oh, and this is just the revised chapter 3, I forgot to add the disclaimer. And It's a nice opportunity for more people to see the story:)


	4. Partying, promotions and tardy teachers!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and I unfortunately don't own the rights to Inuyasha, Hajime no Ippo, Ranma ½, Mahou Sensei Negima, Rurouni Kenshin, and countless other anime series' that ended much too soon.

_After a beaming Iruka presented him with the Raiton(Lighting Element) scroll, and to Naruto's continuing surprise, a silver trophy, Naruto stepped out of the ring._

_As Naruto heard applause from all around him, he couldn't help but feel warm inside. He had already began to prove himself to the village…_

_It was a shame though, Naruto thought to himself, idly looking through the crowd. _

"_I kinda wish Tatsu-sensei was here…"_

_Still looking left to right, Naruto paused and began to focus on a head of white hair. Jumping up using a Chakra enhanced leap, Naruto nearly fainted in shock for the second time that day. Seeming to go on autopilot, Naruto slowly walked until he reached his destination._

_Finally making it to the place he had spotted from his leap, Naruto noticed idly that Sakura, Hinata and a still passed out Ino were waiting for him, along with one other person. Said person gave a beaming smile._

"_You've done well…Little One."_

_Muhi Tatsu had come._

Tears nearly welling in his eyes, Naruto gave a pleased shout of "Tatsu-sensei!" and leapt into the arms of his smiling sensei. Tatsu let out a grunt of surprise, and quickly straightened himself out, the boy having given him a warm hug.

"Tatsu-sensei…you came. Even though you were on that trip you still came…" Naruto said softly.

"Of course I would Little One. You're my precious person after all." Tatsu said in turn. "I always support my precious people."

Sakura, having finally gotten out of her kiss-induced shock, finally realized what she had heard, and gave a gasp.

"Wait a minute…YOU'RE Muhi Tatsu? THE Muhi Tatsu?"

Putting Naruto down, Tatsu raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I don't know any other Muhi Tatsus, so I suppose I am, even though I am not aware of the Tatsu you refer to."

Getting a little irritated, Sakura replied. "Naruto's Sensei, guardian and the man who took care of him for a good portion of his life." She bit out.

Giving a delighted little smile, Tatsu responded. "Oh yes! That's me alright! I suppose you were expecting something else I imagine? A monk maybe?"

Sakura gave Tatsu a sheepish look, confirming his suspicions. Wanting to save the girl some embarrassment, Tatsu decided to ask a question in turn.

"So who might you be young lady? Might you be… Haruno Sakura-san?"

"Ee? Um… yes! How did you know?" Sakura asked in surprise.

Tatsu put an arm against what appeared to be a slightly embarrassed Naruto. "Little One here often talks about you in his letters to me. In fact, he talks about you quite a lot."

While Sakura's bout of blushing renewed due to this comment, Naruto seemed to become irritated.

"Tatsu-sensei! Those letters were private! Don't go blabbing everything you hear!" he yelled.

Tatsu smirked. "Ah, but Little One, where would the fun in that be?"

Ignoring Tatsu, Naruto kept talking. "And another thing! Why do you still call me little? I'm almost as tall as you now!"

Tatsu's smirk grew. "Oh but Naruto-_chan, _you'll always be my Little One. If you insist though, I suppose 'kouzou' would be okay too."

Sighing at knowing that was the best he was going to get, Naruto noticed that all of his friends were beginning to walk home, and asked them all to gather around. Curious, the eight Genin complied. Naruto, seeing that everyone had come, asked a very important question.

"Everyone…do you all want to celebrate tonight with Tatsu-sensei and I?"

Well, at least important to him.

All of his friends, even Shino seemed to get slightly sad at the question. They all explained to him that they all had prior celebrations or engagements to go to. Some had family dinners, others had clan initiation rituals, and Shikamaru simply wasn't there.

Seeing his Little One disappointed, Tatsu asked if they had anything planned in three days, making the Genin perform a double take. After talking amongst themselves, in fact none of them did have anything planned for that day.

"Then it's settled. We'll all go out to celebrate your graduation in three days." Tatsu concluded.

Bidding his now happier friends goodbye, Naruto looked at Tatsu with a grateful expression, to which Tatsu only smiled again. He took Naruto's hand and began to walk away, but not before a panting Iruka-sensei came up. He informed Naruto that in fact, there WAS a personal training session scheduled for him with Sandaime Hokage in the next week, scheduled five days from then (proving yet again that Sandaime knows all with his 'crystal ball of power'). Naruto thanked Iruka, and Tatsu yet again took his hand. Beginning to walk, Naruto voiced an unspoken thought.

"Tatsu-sensei? Why did you ask my friends to come in three days rather than two or one?"

Tatsu gave a chuckle. "Well, I imagine after the celebration we will be having… we're going to need an extra day or two to sleep."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Indeed, as Tatsu had predicted, no one saw hide or hair of Naruto or his teacher in the next two days. Even then, when they had come back, the two still looked as if they could sleep for a week.

The pair not only looked tired, with bags beginning to form on their eyes, but also were covered in chicken feathers, tar, goat fur, and what appeared to be cheese fondue. After the Genin had come across the messy pair, no one objected when Naruto tiredly asked if they could hold the celebration off for another day.

Of course, that was after they managed to compose themselves long enough to stop laughing and form a sentence. Even Shino.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The next day seemed to have done wonders for the pair, as they appeared clean, energetic and free of goat fur. After hearing various suggestions, they all decided to go to the local Barbeque place that Chouji frequented. Looking happy at the size of the party, and especially at the handsome white-haired man, a waitress showed them to a rather large booth. They quickly ordered and began getting comfortable. Various topics were brought up; the difficulty of the exam, various hobbies, their matches in the exhibition, and foods that they liked were all topics breached.

As the conversations began to die down, Tatsu gave Naruto a glance and took out a suspiciously bottle-shaped package. Naruto gave a double take and a wide grin began to form on his face, his eyes widening.

"Tatsu-sensei…is that what I think it is?" Naruto asked in anticipation.

Tatsu merely smirked in response. Kiba began to look excited; Shino raised an eyebrow, Shikamaru muttered 'Mendokuse…', and Chouji and the Kunoichi began to protest.

"Tatsu-san I can't believe you would take out alcohol! We aren't twenty yet, even if you might be!" Ino screeched.

Naruto looked at Tatsu, and he did the same. Both began to chuckle and then eventually break into full blown laughter, hooting and hollering while pounding the booth's table in amusement. Finally regaining his composure while his sensei kept laughing, Naruto rebuffed the statement.

"No, no Ino-chan, Tatsu-sensei didn't bring alcohol. He brought something MUCH nicer. It only looks like liquor from the outside, but it doesn't have any liquor in it."

Curious, Hinata asked, "So… what is it Naruto-kun?"

Finally regaining his composure, Tatsu began to unwrap the package. When he finished, a bottle was revealed. It wasn't liquor, nor was it a juice. The bottle was filled with a blue colored liquid that had bubbles fizzing within. The label read 'ELVEN FIZZ'.

Tatsu quickly asked for glasses from the waitress, and began to pour a little bit of the drink into each glass. Raising his glass, the others raised theirs in turn.

"KANPAI!" they cheered.

Each of Naruto's friends began to drink, and the reactions were amusing to say the least. While at first nothing seemed to happen, after five seconds began to sport looks that made them seem as if they had just come from some rather… 'pleasurable' activities. Nearly all of them had smiles forming that were not associated with normal everyday happiness, and Hinata and Ino could be seen with drool coming out of their mouths. Naruto and Tatsu, having had the drink before, were more in control but still looked happy to the point of insane. Even Shikamaru looked completely content, as if he was sleeping, not just watching his beloved clouds.

"And to think, that was the weak batch!" Tatsu mused.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

After bidding his friends goodbye (but not without a promise of more Elven Fizz for later from all of them, as Tatsu was the only person who knew how to get the stuff.), Naruto's life began to pick up momentum again.

Because he still had a day before his lesson with Sandaime, Naruto decided to take it easy for once, simply relaxing. He spent most of the day asleep; he spent the rest of the day taking a leaf out of Shikamaru's book and watched the clouds. It was rather relaxing he had to admit. No wonder Shikamaru was so laid-back.

After that particularly nice day, Naruto spent his morning anxiously awaiting his lesson. After Iruka-sensei came to escort him through, Naruto was greeted by a cheerful Sandaime, grateful for the reprieve in paperwork. Sandaime looked through his personal scroll shelf, finally taking down none other than what Naruto had read to be Konoha's scroll of forbidden jutsu.

"Naruto, while I am afraid that I cannot instruct you as I wish personally due to work, I can still do something for you. Inside this scroll are Konoha's most powerful and dangerous jutsu, stored by Shodaime himself. Because you have won the academy exhibition matches, shown incredible talent and done a splendid job in aiding your fellow students through teaching, I will allow you to copy down the first technique on this scroll."

Eyes wide, Naruto gazed in wonder at the scroll. "I…I'm honored Hokage-sama."

With shaking hands, Naruto slowly but surely unraveled the scroll, making sure to stop when he saw the title of the scroll's second technique. He hastily took out a scroll and ink brush of his own, and began to copy the technique titled: "KAGE BUSHIN NO JUTSU".

As he began to read the description of the technique, Naruto wondered why a technique that only made Bushin solid was considered so dangerous. While it did require an amazing amount of Chakra to use, if one was careful they could avoid Chakra depletion. However, as he continued his copying, Naruto read the section detailing other effects of the technique. It could be used to detail any training knowledge or experience gained and give that knowledge back to the user; this could not only be useful for scouting purposes, it seemed to cut training time into such small fractions that nearly any technique could be learned instantaneously if the user had enough Chakra. With that kind of training boost, no wonder it was considered so dangerous! For a village that did enough stamina training, this jutsu could make them unstoppable!

Not only that, but if such an ability were to be combined with Henge no Jutsu… well, needless to say, a person who valued tactics such as Muhi Naruto began to salivate at the possibilities.

Finally finishing after about fifteen minutes, Naruto rose up so quickly that he almost had a head rush. Giving a bow to Sandaime, he began to leave, but Sandaime shouted for him to stop.

"Naruto, before you go, there is one last thing I wish to speak to you about."

Nonplussed, Naruto only nodded to the Hokage. Inhaling sharply on his pipe, Sarutobi exhaled and blew a ring of smoke out before continuing.

"Over the past six months, many people including myself have noticed that you seem to be unusually intelligent and possess great cunning towards Ninjutsu and what is associated with it. Therefore, because of your achievements and your experience as a teacher, I am giving you special status as an 'acting Chuunin'. This gives you several rights that normal Genin do not normally have access to."

Sarutobi again took a sharp inhalation from his pipe, Naruto standing as if he was about to faint.

"These rights mainly deal with being able to teach your fellow Genin when their Jounin instructors are busy with missions or other obligations, not being obligated to stay with one particular team constantly, and gaining Chuunin experience by leading Genin teams on D-rank missions. If you prove yourself, you may even gain the privelage of leading C-rank missions before becoming a Chuunin. As an added benefit, you will gain Chuunin-level access to the Shinobi library, and will be able to check out B-ranked jutsu scrolls."

Naruto, now looking as if he would collapse at any moment, just stood for several seconds as Sandaime gave a wan smile. Finally, Naruto got out of his shock and gave a bow, taking the dogeza position.

"Hokage-sama… Thank you! Thank you so much! I won't let you down!" Naruto beamed triumphantly.

Sandaime gave a chuckle and gave Naruto a pin made in the shape of a leaf. "Pin that next to your forehead protector. Chuunin and Jounin are aware of it's significance, so they won't protest much when you help teach or take out jutsu. And Naruto…" Sarutobi trailed off.

"Yes?"

"Continue to teach and train as well as you have up to this point. Skilled teachers are rare, and the better a student is taught, the less ninja die. I'm counting on you, you know."

Again, Naruto bowed quickly, and with a smile, ran out of the room.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

While Naruto was pleased over his new arrangement as an acting Chuunin teacher, he didn't let it get to his head… well, at least not too much. Naruto knew that the Genin orientation meeting was in three days, and it was then that he would get his true Genin test. Most people and even books didn't mention such a thing, but after consulting Tatsu-sensei and wondering why ninja were put into squads of three, Naruto realized that they were made as such in order to make three people 'one'. Because each Genin was still technically in training and hadn't developed a full set of skills, strengths and weaknesses were complemented by the abilities of teammates. Therefore, they would most likely need teamwork to pass the true Genin test.

Naruto idly imagined that was why so many Genin failed the 'true' test. With the constant conflict that Shinobi dealt with, it was hard to encourage any kind of atmosphere that was positive.

While Naruto began to walk towards the academy building, he wondered what had happened to the seal trap he had set in the forest during training. Naruto had continued to research seals, believing that serious training could wait until his team was finalized. However, as he began to test trap seals he had begun to get lost in making a rather complicated seal, and forgot that it would turn invisible after finishing. Quite worried that someone had gotten hurt, Naruto walked in worry, anxious all the way to the academy.

As he neared the academy, Naruto curiously heard a few snippets of gossip.

"Hey did you hear about that Chuunin teacher who tried to steal the scroll of forbidden seals?"

"Yeah, I heard five ANBU had to attack him all together. That's why he ended up so badly injured!"

"Really? I heard he ended up somehow in front of a stampede of bulls!"

"Well I heard he ended up stupidly walking into a trap that set off an explosion, a barrage of kunai, a stink bomb, AND a laxative!"

The gossipers all stared at the last speaker in disbelief. Naruto continued walking, a spring in his step, now relieved that he hadn't hurt anyone. At least, not anyone important.

His friends greeting him as he sat down, Naruto slumped forward relaxed, knowing that no matter who he got on his team, at least one person he could get along with. He shared a glance with Iruka-sensei, Iruka's eyes widening and then smiling as he saw the leaf pin attached to Naruto's forehead protector. After ten minutes, Iruka started to try and get the class's attention, but normal methods didn't seem to work today. Pulling out an air horn, Iruka was able to quickly gain the attention of his class and shatter a few eardrums in the process.

"Alright settle down everyone, it's now time to announce team assignments. Team One…"

Iruka continued to assign teams, with students groaning, cheering or not doing anything at all sometimes. Finally, Naruto heard his name.

"Team 7: Muhi Naruto, Haruno Sakura –"

Iruka was interrupted as Sakura jumped up, pulling Naruto towards her and beginning a little jig. Naruto began to join her and everyone looked in amusement. Iruka coughed and the two looked a little embarrassed as they sat back down.

" and final teammate, Uchiha Sasuke."

This caused a chain reaction to go throughout the room. All of Naruto's friends groaned at not being placed on a team with their buddy, with Ino and Hinata actually beginning to crack their desks they were clutching so hard. Sakura groaned loudly, putting her head in her hands. Naruto? Well, other than a slight frown he didn't do anything at all.

Iruka continued as if the disturbance had never happened. "Your Jounin sensei will be Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight: Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba."

The three teammates glanced at each other, glad they hadn't been given teammates they could rely upon.

"Team Nine: Shinigami Kage, Nekomichi Kuro, Haiiro Ryu. Team Ten: Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji."

Ino let out a depressed sigh sounding suspiciously like 'Naruto-kun', Shikamaru did the same only his sounded like 'Mendokuse', and Chouji just sat calmly eating his barbeque flavored chips.

Iruka finished, and slowly but surely, Jounin came to pick up their students. An hour later, Team 7 was STILL waiting for their Jounin instructor. Bored, Naruto and Sakura began to talk while Sasuke sat brooding in a corner.

"Ne Naruto, have you been working on anything new lately?" Sakura asked

"Yup. I've been working on seals Sakura-chan, how about you?" Naruto asked in turn.

Sakura smiled. "Oh, I've begun looking into medical scrolls they let me borrow from the hospital. So far I've only gotten up to small cuts and small blood clots."

Naruto began to look enthusiastic. "Still, that's great Sakura-chan! And in only a few days too, you should be proud of yourself! Can you show me how it works?"

Sakura blushed. "Sure Naruto-kun! But first, you need to show me one of your seals. I've always wanted to know how they work."

"Um… okay. Just let me get ready, okay? And as a bonus…" he smirked in an evil fashion. "We can teach a lesson to our instructor about tardiness."

Taking out a small bottle of ink and a calligraphy brush, Naruto began to quickly write symbols around the door. When he finished, Naruto formed a few seals and slammed his palms onto the ground. The symbols all seemed to become absorbed into the big kanji symbol in the seal's center, and when all of the little markings had disappeared, the big one did too.

Sakura gave a look of astonishment. "Wow! That… that was amazing Naruto-kun! What kind of trap does that make?"

Although he couldn't be sure, Naruto swore he saw Sasuke giving a small glance in their direction as he explained. When he finished, Sakura began explaining the intricacies of medical jutsu and how they required an immense level of concentration, even when performing something small. Fascinated, Naruto asked her to elaborate and thus began a long question and answer session, Naruto asking about how disease was removed, brain damage was repaired and other things that Sakura herself had trouble answering but did her best with.

After around another hour, the Q and A session had finished and all three Genin were horrendously bored, Naruto's trap forgotten. Sakura took sat down with her head on a desk, Sasuke still brooded in the corner and Naruto seemed to be sleeping.

Out of nowhere, they heard a loud explosion and a wisp of air. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a frazzled Jounin, soot covering what little could be seen of his face through his facemask, and hair messed up and tangled in vines that came out of what seemed to be nowhere.

Regaining his composure, the Jounin took out a kunai and hacked through the vines, coming up to them.

"My first impression of you guys is… I hate you."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Having gone up to the academy's roof, the Jounin motioned for them to sit down.

"Now I think it's time we all introduced ourselves. Names, likes and dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future, stuff like that." Kakashi stated. "Why doesn't the one who made that trap start?" Kakashi's eye twitched.

Naruto took that as his cue. "I'm Muhi Naruto. I like manga/anime, teaching, getting to explore new lands, my friends, my guardian Tatsu, and Elven Fizz. I dislike greed and selfishness if they hurt others, prejudice and those who don't try at their own goals. Hobbies… not much, other than learning seal making and watching anime. Dreams for the future… to help my friends and guardian achieve their own dreams, to get married to at least one woman, and to become Hokage, the number one ninja in the village!"

Rather nonplussed, Kakashi motioned to Sakura after a few moments, thinking Naruto was rather interesting.

"I'm Haruno Sakura. I like my friends, training with Naruto-kun and getting stronger in any way. Oh, and I don't like Elven Fizz, I LOVE it." Sakura giggled. "I dislike the same things as Naruto and also Konoha's unfair clan system. Hobbies… learning medical jutsu, watching movies and swimming. My dreams for the future are like Naruto's in helping everyone I care about achieve their own dreams, to find my soul mate and to become a kunoichi better than Tsunade-sama! I also want to help Naruto get rid of the current clan system Konoha is governed by when he becomes Hokage so we can help more first-generation ninja."

Kakashi's visible eye widened, and then closed in an upside down U shape, showing that he was pleased. _Rather ambitious, but at least she'll take her duties seriously. _Finally he pointed to Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke... I don't like or dislike many things at all. I don't have any hobbies and dreams? Well, they aren't so much dreams as they are ambitions. To resurrect my clan and…" Sasuke took a dramatic pause. "To kill a certain man."

"_As I thought, Itachi influenced his behavior."_

"_I can't honestly see what I saw in this psychopath."_

"_I think I may need to call the insanity ward soon."_

Kakashi stood up abruptly. "Well, you're all fairly interesting. Meet me tomorrow at training ground twelve at seven in the morning. We're going to be conducting a mission. Survival training in fact."

"Sensei, didn't we have survival training in the academy already?" Sakura asked.

"This is a little different. Oh and you should know, this is your real Genin test. There's a failure rate of 66, so come prepared. And don't eat breakfast tomorrow, you'll get so scared you will not only throw up, but wet your pants too!"

With that rather unsettling thought, the three made their way back home, determined even If they were somewhat intimidated. Whatever it was, Naruto knew he couldn't THINK he would pass the test; he WOULD pass the test.

A/N: Thanks again for reading my story. Please review, I'm begging you all! It makes me a lot happier when you do. I hope it is at least somewhat enjoyable, and look forward at least to seeing how many hits I get next. Thanks to you all.


	5. Bell Test! Naruto's mysterious element?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Unfortunately, I also don't own a way into another state, as California land prices are high to the point of stupidity.

As requested by Kakashi, all three of Team 7's Genin made it to the training ground at seven in the morning. Sasuke leaned against a tree, although one couldn't tell whether he was simply bored or trying to catch up on sleep due to his eyes being closed. Naruto had brought yet another manga, this one entitled 'Eyeshield 34' and was about something that neither of his teammates had ever seen before in their lives, something called 'Amefuto'. Sakura sent periodic glances to Naruto, becoming ever more agitated as Naruto had yet to notice either of his teammates was there.

After about an hour or waiting, Sakura finally grew impatient and violently snatched Naruto's fifth manga of the day out of his hands.

"Hey! I was right in the middle of a fight scene!" Naruto protested.

"Naruto! Get your head out of that stupid manga for once! I'm bored and its obvious Kakashi-sensei won't be here for a while, so let's do something together, okay?" Sakura implored

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think we're a bit young for that kind of thing?"

A vein beginning to throb in her forehead, Sakura resisted the urge to hit her friend. "That's not what I meant! I mean something to pass the time, like sparring!"

Smiling sheepishly, Naruto rubbed the back of his head and gave a nervous chuckle. "Sorry Sakura-chan. It's just whenever Tatsu-sensei made me wait for something, this is what I always did. I'm not really used to being with people you know, even after doing things with everyone…"

Mollified, Sakura gave a small smile. "Yeah, I know Naruto-kun. Just try to make more of an effort at it, will you? When you're with people, it's usually best to consider their feelings at first." Naruto gave a small blush in his smile. "So, are you up for that spar? I imagine we have at least an hour or so."

Naruto nodded, and they began. They began by warming up with pure Taijutsu sparring, and after about a half hour or so, began to fight seriously. Knowing that Naruto had already seen her Chakra strings, Sakura abstained from using them, instead trying to cover a wide attack area by using Chakra arrows, spears and what looked suspiciously like a giant tennis racket. However, even after all of this effort, Naruto still managed to block or dodge nearly every strike. Finally, Sakura had decided that she had had enough and decided to try a technique she had only thought up and never tried. She glanced at Naruto without fear, determined to somehow get an attack on him. Looking down, she cupped her hands together and began to gather Chakra.

After about four seconds, a blue glow surrounded Sakura's palms, and with a thrust forward, a small ball of Chakra rocketed forward towards a surprised looking Naruto. The Chakra ball went into Naruto's torso and his face contorted in pain, only to have a now winded Sakura look in astonishment as he puffed away into smoke.

"_Bushin with Kawarimi? If it was Bushin though, it would have gone straight through. Wait, this isn't the time to be thinking!"_

As if in synch with her thoughts, Sakura was attacked from behind, barely managing to turn completely in order to intercept a pouncing Naruto. Tackling her, the two quickly became a tangled mass of limbs, with Naruto finally ending up pinning her to the ground. The two were very close, faces inches apart from each other. Sakura had a heavy blush on her face, while Naruto breathed heavily while giving a mischievous look.

"Never turn your back on your opponent…Sakura-chaaan." He drawled. He leaned in as if to kiss her…

"Am I interrupting something?"

Shocked, the two sprang apart quickly, as Kakashi glanced at them over the top of a little orange book. At the same time, Sasuke gave a look to Sakura that seemed to have a bit of grudging respect to it. Both Naruto and Sakura gave an annoyed look at their tardy sensei, both for various reasons. Some of which they weren't entirely sure about at the moment…

Kakashi coughed in order to try and diffuse the situation. He temporarily pocketed the book he was reading and took out two little bells. All three Genin now looked confused.

"All right, this is your test. I shall set a timer to stop at noon, and whoever gets these bells passes the test and gets lunch. The one who doesn't get a bell will be tied to the stump, and will be sent back to the academy."

All three Genin began to look alarmed, even though Sasuke hid it somewhat. Kakashi pulled out an alarm clock and pushed a button.

"In order to pass successfully you must come at me with the intent to kill. Now, BEGIN!"

All three Genin quickly leapt off into the trees, concealed. Kakashi vaguely glanced around, and waited for one of them to crack. Finally, after about five minutes, Naruto leapt out of the trees and took a stance.

"Kakashi-sensei… I am aware that this test has an underlying meaning. However, I must test your skills for myself in order to create a plan to get those bells. Tatsu-sensei doesn't approve of some of my methods, but he doesn't try to stop me." Naruto babbled nonsensically as he lifted a leg up, making sure not to take his eyes off the Jounin. Lifting a pant leg up, he exposed a pair of ankle bracers, pressed a button on them and released them both.

"_Weights? But they don't seem to weigh that much…" _Kakashi thought idly. After Naruto had finished, Kakashi brought out his beloved orange book.

"Huh? Wait, Kakashi-sensei, which manga is that?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Raising an eyebrow, Kakashi answered. "It's called Icha Icha Paradise, and I'm afraid you can't read it until you're eighteen. Sorry."

Looking confused for a minute, Naruto then pieced it together. "Oh! That's a hentai manga isn't it? Tatsu-sensei loves those things... wait, what am I doing?"

Regaining his composure, Naruto settled into a loose stance. After about two seconds, he flew at Kakashi with incredible speed. The Jounin could barely keep up with the boy's Taijutsu, making Kakashi wonder idly if Gai had taken on another student.

"Test 1: Taijutsu." Naruto let out between blows. The boy was beginning to tire, yet Kakashi looked at least somewhat tired. "You pass." Naruto panted. Naruto began to retreat, the eyes of his teammates on him.

"_A guy this quiet was this strong? I have to figure out where he gets his power and get some for myself!" _

"_I KNEW Naruto was holding back in our spars! I have to keep working at my Taijutsu…"_

Kakashi grew confused. "Wait… aren't you going to test me on Ninjutsu and Genjutsu?"

Before retreating completely, Naruto replied. "I don't have much in the way of Ninjutsu yet, and my Genjutsu ability would be cheating in this test."

Raising an eyebrow at the cockiness of his young student, Kakashi prepared to go after him when a barrage of shuriken came forth. Although it seemed to Sasuke at first glance that he had accidentally killed his sensei, a second later revealed that he had used Kawarimi no Jutsu and replaced himself with a log. Knowing that he was a sitting duck, Sasuke leapt forward, unaware that Kakashi had quickly made a Kage Bushin.

Meanwhile, Sakura was tapped behind on the shoulder. Dreading what she would see, a smiling Kakashi waved at her. Steeling herself, she noticed Kakashi begin some hand seals and the forest began to magically manipulate itself to his will. She then began to notice that a thing happening so quickly would be impossible, even for someone of Kakashi's own level. Realizing it was a Genjutsu, she formed the Ram seal and let a pulse of Chakra escape. "KAI!"

The Genjutsu dispersed, and Sakura began to look for Naruto in order to gain his help.

Engaging the man in Taijutsu just as Naruto had tried before, Sasuke tried desperately to get even so much as a hit on his erstwhile sensei, but to no avail. While fighting, Kakashi's Kage Bushin had puffed into smoke, letting him know that Sakura had completed her own 'test' and still blocking, Kakashi gave a pleased smile. Thinking Kakashi was mocking him, Sasuke grew enraged and leapt back. Forming seals, Sasuke ended with the Tiger seal and inhaled sharply.

"KATON: GOKYAKKU NO JUTSU!"

Sasuke let out a giant ball of fire, and as Kakashi prepared to dodge he looked in a tiny amount of surprise.

"_A Genin shouldn't have that much Chakra! Who is this guy?"_

After a few seconds, the smoke and ash of his jutsu finally began to disperse. Unfortunately for Sasuke, he noticed that it was not Kakashi that had been burned, but a mere log.

"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu."

Feeling a tug at his legs too late, Sasuke was pulled feet first into the dirt, the jutsu stopping at his head level. Kakashi lazily strode up to Sasuke.

"You aren't like Naruto and Sakura, are you Sasuke…-kun?" he drawled.

Sasuke scowled. "I'm different from them."

"Considering that you only fought with Naruto a week ago and he defeated you in one strike, I'd say he and Sakura are probably heads above you." Kakashi smiled gleefully.

Hearing a groan from the horrible pun he had just made, Kakashi quickly turned his attention back to the trees. Out of nowhere, Naruto and once again charged forward at an insane speed. Catching Kakashi off guard, he managed a quick hook to the torso, but their little game of strike and block soon resumed. After about five minutes of this, Sakura yelled out:

"Naruto! I'm ready!"

Smirking, Naruto leapt at Kakashi again. Instead of striking however, he tightly grabbed onto Kakashi in a clinch, making the Jounin unable to move temporarily. Distracted, Kakashi rammed Naruto into a tree, dislodging him. To the Jounin's surprise however, the dislodged Naruto puffed into smoke.

"_Kage Bushin? Seems this kid is more cautious than I thought…"_

As he began to survey the field, Kakashi noticed that Sasuke was no longer in his 'hole', and the three Genin were still concealed.

"_Looks like they understand the meaning of this test better than I thought…" _

All three Genin then revealed themselves; Sasuke looking somewhat humbled and angry; Sakura looked ecstatic, while Naruto just looked calm.

"Looks like we pass… Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto brought out his palm to reveal the two bells.

Kakashi's eye widened. "What the hell did you do?"

Naruto smirked. "Simple. When Sakura dispelled your Genjutsu, she sought me out and we began to plan. Sasuke gave us a good opportunity when he distracted you. When you were busy with him, Sakura-chan began making Chakra strings, and my Kage Bushin rushed forward to attack you. When Sasuke was stuck in the ground, Sakura-chan used her Chakra strings to start pulling him out and retrieve him. After all, we needed all the help we could get if this plan failed."

Kakashi, looking pleased, began to say something but was interrupted. "As my Kage Bushin began fighting with you, my bracers, which I dropped earlier in the fight, turned into Kage Bushin and snuck up behind you. When the first Kage Bushin clinched you, the second was able to quickly retrieve the bells. When Sakura had finished, so had my Bushin, and he brought them back to the third Bushin, which brought them back to me."

Floored, Kakashi began to look in wonder at the GENIN who pulled off such a move. Not only had he and Sakura showed exemplary teamwork, they had also achieved their mission objective.

"_Muhi Naruto… truly he is a dark horse; and Haruno Sakura… I had thought that she was only average at best, but to get to this level in such a short time…"_

Kakashi walked towards the three and gave another raised eyebrow. "Well, I guess then I have good news and bad news for you."

Eyes widening in confusion, Sasuke and Sakura began to protest while Naruto only sighed.

"The good news is that Naruto and Sakura passed the test very well. The bad news… is that because of Sasuke, none of you will pass."

Becoming shocked, Sasuke let out a shout. "But we got the bells! Why don't we pass?"

"You missed the true meaning of this test." Kakashi said in a grim tone. "That is why you failed."

"True meaning?" Sakura asked.

"I'm surprised you didn't realize it, considering you did so well at it Sakura." Kakashi began. "The true meaning of this test is-"

"Teamwork."

"That's correct Naruto. Genin are put into three person squads for a reason you know." Kakashi explained. "Your comrades are your life on a mission, even if you have to fail that mission. While you may end up failing missions, the income those generate can be replenished. Comrades can never come back."

He paused, looking wistfully at a large stone, carved with names. "Those who don't follow rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." Kakashi stopped his watch. "Now then; it's time for lunch. However, Sasuke doesn't get any, so don't feed him."

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "You all have one more chance at this. Don't disappoint me."

With a skip and jump, Kakashi went away, leaving the Genin to their lunch. After a few bites, a pouting Sasuke blushed in embarrassment when his stomach growled. Shuffling around his Bento, Naruto took hold of a tomato with his chopsticks and held it out to Sasuke.

"Here Sasuke. Eat. This is your favorite, right?"

"Kakashi told you not to though!" Sasuke protested, highly surprised Naruto had known such a thing about him. "I don't… I don't want to fail."

Sakura smirked. "Don't worry Uchiha. If Naruto can't sense him, he isn't very close by. If you don't eat, you won't operate at your full potential, and we need as much help as we can get."

After a few bites, Sasuke appeared in slightly better spirits. However, they were interrupted, as Kakashi came seemingly out of nowhere.

"YOU GUYS…."

Wearing a vaguely homicidal look on his face, Kakashi charged forward, slightly intimidating even Naruto.

"…Pass!"

Smiling in triumph, Team 7 listened intently as their Jounin-sensei told them to meet at the old bridge near training ground 34. Using a kunai, Sakura cut Sasuke's ropes and he put his head down, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Naruto, Sakura… thank you."

Merely smiling, Naruto responded.

"We're teammates, aren't we? That's what teammates do. Simple as that!"

Gazing at the boy in wonder and at Sakura who nodded in assent, Sasuke did something that even Naruto became astonished at. For the first time in perhaps several years, Uchiha Sasuke gave a true smile.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

It was after about two weeks of being teammates with Naruto and Sakura that Sasuke had begun to understand that his teammates were more complicated than nearly anyone had thought.

While he had been confused and somewhat pleased at first that Sakura had no longer been pestering him for dates and the like, Sasuke had just assumed that she had given up. However, it was now clear that she possessed a drive to succeed that rivaled even the most determined Shinobi, and she had managed to do things with Chakra that he hadn't thought possible. Now that she was hung up over him, her personality seemed to have changed overnight. (even though it had been a gradual process) As he noticed her talking with his blonde teammate, she seemed very passionate now, with her whole being seeming to tingle with excitement as she grew stronger. She was very friendly as well, although often when she talked to Sasuke it seemed to be a forced friendliness, which for some reason he felt vaguely disappointed by. Of course, Sakura had a temper that rivaled no other. The fifth time Kakashi had been late seemed to be particularly bad, as in the middle of his lame excuse, she ended up punching him in the most sensitive part of a male's anatomy. Naruto had quietly explained to him that a female biological process was occurring, and as males, they had best not interfere.

Needless to say, Kakashi was hardly ever late again.

Naruto was a different story, and it was very difficult to give him a 'defined' personality. While much of the time Naruto was very quiet, at other times he would become even more passionate than Sakura. He was very serious and focused in his training, yet when the team would take breaks or enjoy a little recreation, he would become very laid-back, and would often make jokes. Naruto was an enigma.

The team's training was progressing better than Sasuke had expected. While Kakashi often had them practice teamwork through various exercises and D-ranked missions, he hardly ever gave them jutsu training or even training advice. Though it had been somewhat frustrating at first, Naruto had ended up as an unexpected savior for their training needs.

After about three days, the whole team had been dissatisfied with the missions received. Not only had the missions not paid well individually, they also cut into training time. Seeing this as a problem, Naruto had spent two days experimenting on a new way to do D-rank missions, and had come up with a way to combine missions and training in a way no one had thought of before.

For certain missions, Naruto had assigned training exercises that went with them. Potato digging, for example, had been combined with teaching the jutsu Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu. With the earth jutsu's ability to dig tunnels from underground, the Genin had not only been able to dig up the potatoes much more quickly, they had also gotten a good amount of practice at using the jutsu.

For dog walking, the person would walk alongside a riverbank while walking on water, increasing Chakra control. Cat finding was turned into a game where the one who found said cat first was said to have the best tracking skills, and got to be taught a jutsu in reward. For house painting, Naruto would use Kage Bushin, Sakura would control paint brushes using Chakra strings, and Sasuke would cling to the house's side and practice his Chakra control. More and more of these exercises were employed, and slowly but surely, both teamwork and basics continued to improve for Team 7.

In fact, the rate at which they completed missions became so quick that Naruto was given the opportunity to lead a few of these missions himself. Although Kakashi had explained the situation to Sasuke and Sakura, Sasuke was at least a little resentful. Nonetheless, Naruto managed missions well, and clients occasionally would give positive comments about his leadership.

Within about three weeks, Team seven had already completed 40 D-rank missions. That isn't to say that they didn't spend time on individual training.

Sasuke was quickly taught Chakra control by his peers, and within five days had completed the tree climbing exercise. During missions he would occasionally practice water walking, and managed to master the exercise in four days. Almost at once he could feel the difference when he practiced fire jutsu and Chakra manipulation. When he had finished, Naruto requested a certain something from Kakashi…

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Team 7 had finished their warm ups, and Kakashi was soon to arrive if Naruto's internal clock was any indication.

"Yo, minna-san."

There he was alright. Kakashi jumped off the arch of a gate, and began walking towards them. Sasuke and Sakura noticed curiously that he was holding several small strips of paper.

"Okay everyone. Naruto has requested a little something of me, and today I shall carry it out. While normally I wouldn't do this sort of thing, it seems as if your basics are up to par. Also…" he gave a smile, seen by the way his eyes looked. "Naruto's gained quite a few brownie points, so he's allowed to request something every once in a while."

All three Genin grew irritated at Kakashi's mocking tone.

"Just get on with it, Sensei." Naruto bit out.

"Hmmm? Okay Naruto, since you're so spirited today, you can explain our little exercise."

Naruto sighed. He grabbed the paper out of Kakashi's hand and adopted his 'student teacher' pose.

"Sasuke, Sakura, today you shall learn your elemental affinity."

Confused, Naruto's teammates motioned for him to go on.

"Nearly every ninja has an affinity to a certain element of Ninjutsu. There are five elements of Ninjutsu: Earth, Wind, Fire, Water and Lighting. You may come across a user of the Metal element. However…" Naruto motioned as if to push his sunglasses up, but stopped. "As the last of the Metal users was seen in the time of Shodaime Hokage, it's very unlikely you'll ever run into one."

Naruto coughed, then continued. "Anyway, usually a ninja's elemental affinity has to do with which country they are from. For example, the Water country's Mist ninja usually use water; Wind country's Sand ninja usually have the affinity of wind and Konoha ninja usually end up using fire elements."

Sakura raised her hand as if in class. "Ano… Naruto-sensei, is that always true, or are there exceptions? And Shinobi can still use all types of Ninjutsu, can't they?"

Naruto saw her smirking and rolled his eyes. "Two good questions, Sakura-SAN. To the first, yes, there are many exceptions; the country similarities are merely generalizations; And yes, Shinobi have the potential to use every element. However, elements a ninja does not have an affinity to will not be as powerful, nor will they be as easy to learn or perform. That being said, there is a way to easily discover a ninja's elemental affinity… or affinities."

Getting his teammates confused once again, Naruto held out the papers. "Both of you take at least three of these. I'll do the same. After you have gotten your papers, gently channel Chakra into them. Let me demonstrate."

After Sasuke and Sakura had both gotten paper strips, Naruto held out a strip. His teammates could see he was channeling Chakra into the strip. After about two seconds, they could see it split evenly in half.

"The paper has split in half as you can see. That means that one of my affinities is wind. Now Sasuke, you try." Naruto encouraged.

Sasuke repeated the process, and for some reason the paper seemed in conflict with the Chakra for a second. However, right afterwards, the paper burst into flame.

"I suppose that means my elemental affinity is fire." Sasuke mused.

Naruto's brow furrowed. "Wait a minute, if I remember correctly… Sasuke, do the same thing with your other hand. I want to see something."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but did as Naruto had asked. The Chakra channeled itself again, but this time the paper strip crumpled instead of bursting into flame.

"AHA! I knew it! Sasuke, you have two elemental affinities after all! Fire and Lighting!" Naruto shouted in glee.

Staring in wonder at the paper strip, Sasuke whispered, "Kakoii…"

Calming himself, Naruto nodded towards Sakura to begin.

Channeling Chakra into the paper strip she had placed into her right hand, Sakura was somewhat surprised when the paper became soaked. Naruto gave a proud smile.

"Ah, Water, as I suspected. Water is life, and life is water. Sakura, you aspire to learn Medical skills, giving life, much as the water does. The perfect element for you, flowing peacefully and serenely."

His speech finished, Naruto noticed his teammates looking at him as if he had sprouted another head. Naruto got a blush onto his face. He coughed.

"Um… why don't you try the paper in your other hand now, Sakura-chan?"

Smirking at her sometimes sensei, Sakura repeated the process in her left hand. After a few seconds, the paper began to crumble into dirt.

"Ah Earth. It suits you well Sakura-chan. Strong, patient and unyielding, just like you. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust."

Sasuke stared at him again, and Sakura gave a pleased smile.

"Wait a minute Naruto, you haven't shown us your second element. Come on, I'm curious now!" Sakura squealed.

Seeing Sasuke nod in assent, Naruto shrugged and began gathering Chakra again. After a few seconds, the paper began to float out of Naruto's hand and shot off into oblivion.

"Naruto-kun… what was THAT element?" Sakura gaped.

Naruto shifted awkwardly, hemming and hawing. "…ask Tatsu-sensei. It's not my place to tell really."

His teammates let the subject drop… for now.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

After Naruto had Team 7 learn their elemental affinities, he had aided their individual training by using his access to the ninja library and had gotten them several jutsu he had thought would be useful.

Sasuke, as said before, practiced fire jutsu. Naruto had given him one called Katon: Karyu Endan, a rather difficult B-rank jutsu. It had taken him two weeks to master, but at the end, he had not only perfected the powerful ability, but his Chakra reserves had increased at an amazing rate. It was here that Sasuke began to gain respect for his blonde teammate, silently grateful that he felt this much stronger in only three weeks.

Sakura continued to learn medical jutsu at an amazing rate; at the end of week, she was able to remove minor poisons and treat nearly any minor injury. Unfortunately, Genin were not allowed to learn higher level medical techniques, as even the slightest mistake could result in disaster. In addition, nearly all medical ninja were on constant standby, so none of them could or would be a teacher for Sakura. Not even Naruto, as an acting Chuunin could gain higher level access.

That being said, Sakura decided that she might as well work on what she could, and find a trainer later. She continued to work constantly on physical exercises, building Chakra and stamina from them. The exercises were made more difficult when she had begun to use weights, but after a while she had felt the results of her training. She also constantly sparred not only with her teammates, but also with Kakashi and occasionally their friends from the academy. In addition, Naruto gave her a few scrolls with Ninjutsu techniques. Surprisingly, Sakura picked up Earth jutsu much more quickly than water techniques.

Naruto's own training was somewhat of a mystery to his own teammates. He often practiced Wind jutsu in addition to his normal Taijutsu and sparring. What was strange however was that he spent hours at a time simply meditating and nothing could be done to snap him out of this trance. Even stranger was that he seemed at least a little stronger every time he finished.

Even though they still met with their friends from the academy, Naruto rarely asked them how their own training was going, confident that they would ask for advice if they needed it. However, Hinata confessed that she had missed their sparring and Naruto's teaching from their academy days, and the rest of them had agreed. Surprised, Naruto agreed to host a consultation session for all of them once a week, and do something together afterwards; swimming, gardening and bugging Naruto about Tatsu were just some of the extracurricular activities considered.

After a few weeks of this though, even the ever patient Naruto had gotten irritated with D-rank missions. The day after he came to this conclusion, Team 7 entered mission central, intent on getting something more… productive.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

"Ah, Team seven. It looks as if there are no more D-rank missions today." Sarutobi said looking through his clipboard.

Naruto, unofficial team leader, glanced at his teammates. They gave a nod in response, and he stepped forward.

"Hokage-sama, is it possible for us to get a C-rank mission? Frankly, our missions as of late have been rather… dissatisfying."

Iruka grew irritated. "Baka! We all started at the bottom with menial duties, you're no exception!"

Sarutobi nodded in response. "Naruto it seems you do not understand the tasks you have been given," said the Hokage. Naruto looked up, his eyes narrowing. Hokage-sama seemed to have forgotten why he had made the boy acting-Chuunin. "Listen, Naruto. Many different kinds of requests come into our village every day. From baby-sitting to assassinations. These requests are carefully analyzed and then ranked…A,B,C, or D, depending on their difficulty. We ninja are also ranked by our abilities, there's Hokage, Jounin, Chuunin, and the lowest being Genin."

"We rank missions based on their difficulty and give them to ninja who have the appropriate skill. For Jounin…A-rank missions. For Chuunin…A, B, and C-Ranked Missions. And then for you, Genin, C and D-Ranked Missions. Of course the newer Genin get the D-ranked missions. After each successful mission the village receives a fee, that helps…"

Sandaime paused and noticed that Naruto was ignoring him, talking with his teammates.

"Sorry Sakura-chan, but like I told you, Tatsu-sensei is the only one who can make Elven Fizz-"

"LISTEN!"

The normally silent Sasuke came to his teammate's defense. "With all due respect Hokage-sama, we HAVE finished forty D-rank missions already, and they cut into training time. If we want to be ready for the Chuunin exams, it would be a good idea to have field experience."

Sarutobi raised a brow, both at the boy's knowledge and somewhat irritated by his belief that his team had already been nominated for the vaunted exams. "Kakashi, do you think your students are ready for such a thing yet?" he asked.

Kakashi gave a sigh of exasperation.

_Don't go dragging me into this…_

Seeing that Kakashi was reluctant, Sakura began to hiss in his ear angrily. If one were to concentrate, they could vaguely hear something about 'chakra enhanced punch', 'pain' and 'less than a catholic'. Kakashi paled in response, and gave a slow nod.

"Their teamwork is impressive Hokage-sama, but a little more training wouldn't hurt. Since these kids seem so sure of themselves, why don't we have 'Student-Teacher' Naruto select the kind of mission?"

Iruka's face gained a surprised look, and began looking through the records, startled at the mission total he had heard. In the meantime, Sandaime gave a patronizing grin to the blonde boy. If Naruto was irritated, he didn't show it.

"I would suggest a border patrol Hokage-sama. We would not only have a chance to work on stamina, stealth and endurance, but leadership skills would most likely increase."

Impressed by the boy's forethought, Sandaime began looking through his clipboard again.

"Well, it seems as if the next border patrol was scheduled for Mitarashi Anko, but I'm sure she'd prefer an A or B-ranked mission. All right then, border patrol it is. You'll be going north, near Waterfall country, almost up to the border of Rice country. You shall be there for a month, so make sure to pack accordingly; you will all meet tomorrow in front of the main entrance at 0800 hours. You are all dismissed."

Team 7 gave a cheer as their Jounin-sensei gave a sigh. When he heard Sakura say "0800? I guess that means we'll be leaving at 1100 knowing Kakashi-sensei" he began to gain a twitch in his eye. Kakashi dismissed them, and they all headed home to begin packing.

Little did these Genin know that this border patrol wouldn't be as boring as they thought…

A/N: As always read and review. That being said, I feel as if I owe a bit of an explanation regarding the elemental affinities:

We know from the manga that Sasuke is fire and lightning, so that's not a point of debate. We know Naruto is wind, but don't know his second element; his second 'element'… well, that's not something I'm going to spoil just yet. Now, as for Sakura, a bit of an explanation is needed:

The Legendary Sannin (Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru) and indeed the three man cell concept, are based on a Rock-Paper-Scissors variation in Japan called Toad-Slug-Snake, like the summons of the Sannin. Toad beats Slug, Slug beats Snake and Snake beats Toad. This is most likely why Jiraiya had trouble fighting Orochimaru (when they were on the Tsunade retrieval mission.) even though old snake face had lost his Jutsu ability. At the same time, you can see Tsunade pounding the shit out of him fairly easily.

Because of this, Naruto's elements (at least in the manga) are weak towards Sasuke's, while Sakura's are most likely ones which can beat Sasuke's. Water would extinguish fire, and Earth would ground/stop lightning from conducting. Thus, Water and Earth.

On a related note, the names of the Sannin are taken from an old folktale in which Jiraiya is a king of thieves, Orochimaru is his loyal friend and Tsunade is a princess who ends up marrying him. Makes you wonder what the Sannin would say if they could see such a good story…

And on a final note, I just wanted to shamelessly plug a few stories. The Legend of Uzumaki Naruto is possibly the BEST Naruto crossover, best crossover, and even possibly the best fanfiction I have ever read. Itcha Itcha Naruto is utterly hilarious. Team 8 by S'Tarkan is probably the most realistic portrayal I've seen of Naruto under a different Sensei than Kakashi. (and it served as inspiration for 'Student Teacher' Naruto in this story.) Finally, Training for the Job, by Desaix, was THE story that convinced me that a Naru/Saku pairing wasn't impossible and was actually fairly realistic. Okay, I'm done now.

P.S. There should be an Omake next chapter. However, if anyone wishes to contribute one, feel free. Thanks much and Ja Na!


	6. Sanjutsu

For the most part, Team 7's travel to the border between Fire and Rice countries was uneventful. Almost more uneventful was the border patrol itself.

Border patrol mostly consisted of two members of Team 7 patrolling one area, Kakashi or Naruto patrolling another, and one of them staying behind to guard camp; this time was often spent training, as Kakashi had told them that successful completion of this mission would qualify them for the Chuunin exams. However, because they were Genin, Kakashi would give the three two hours in the day for training and meals, as requested by Naruto and Sakura. Not much time was spent eating; the first of these hours was usually used to train leadership and miscellaneous things such as stamina and endurance; these exercises mainly consisted of the three of them teaming up against Kakashi using teamwork and whatever they had at their disposal; this was made especially challenging due to the fact that Kakashi never fell for the same tactic twice and plans had to constantly be adapted. While Naruto did show talent in this area, and Sasuke a little less so, Sakura surprisingly grew immensely in these exercises and showed leadership talent.

The second hour of each day, or usually the end of the patrols for that day, was spent on individual training. Or at least it was meant to be; instead, the three Genin were apparently working on some secret ability that they kept secret from their erstwhile sensei and were nearing completion of the ability.

Finally, it was about four days before the end of their border patrol in which someone would come to retrieve them. Kakashi had seen with satisfaction that all three were ready for the Chuunin exams; Naruto had improved his overall abilities and learned several jutsu from scrolls, Sasuke had gotten better control over fire and lighting jutsu and Sakura's Taijutsu and Ninjutsu had improved a great deal. However, this relative peace was soon to be shattered.

Today was a day in which Kakashi was to patrol the eastern part of the border; jumping along the trees, he began to grow bored after a few hours and took out his beloved Icha Icha Paradise book. Out of nowhere, he felt the beginnings of a tremor and immediately leapt off a tree branch, falling gracefully onto the soft earth.

Taking sense of his surroundings, Kakashi threw a shuriken into a shrub and was rewarded by a man leaping to the side and taking a stance. Kakashi's opponent gave a condescending smirk.

The man was a brunette, with a lithe and willowy build that suggested he trained hard to improve speed above all else. He had short hair and an oversized white tunic and surprisingly, a pair of baggy green shorts with two brown sandals. Kakashi regarded the figure coolly as he began to speak.

"Getting sloppy in your old age eh Sharingan Kakashi?"

Kakashi gave his own smirk. "Isn't it a little hot for shorts… Tomishiro Naga?"

The man bristled but soon regained his cool. Kakashi, locked into a game of psychological warfare for the time being, remembered what he knew of this man.

Tomishiro Naga, A-class missing-nin from Iwa in the Bingo book and close to S-class. He uses a powerful bloodline and is not to be underestimated. It is rumored that all but the most powerful strikes can damage him.

"_Better not get my team involved then._" Kakashi mused.

"You had better watch out Kakashi," Naga said "I'm trying for your head. It's worth quite a bit in certain markets you know."

Kakashi shrugged. "I'm not surprised. Well… come on then."

Naga burst into action, and the two soon joined battle.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meanwhile, Naruto and Sasuke were just heading back to camp. Both a little tired, their senses became a bit dull, so naturally, they were a bit surprised when Sakura came out of nowhere.

"Sakura-chan!? Aren't you supposed to be guarding camp?" Naruto asked surprised.

"That's not important right now!" Sakura snapped. "Kakashi-sensei found something, and I think we need to go and back him up!"

Sasuke raised a brow. "What makes you so sure Kakashi needs our help? He's a Jounin, shouldn't he be able to take care of anything?"

Naruto gave a shake of the head. "Not necessarily. Sometimes numbers can overwhelm a single entity; other times a surprising tactic may win a victory if applied quick enough." He gave the sign for a quick formation. "We'll scout the area and keep quiet. If Kakashi needs our help, we'll give it to him."

The other two nodded in agreement, and with renewed energy, Team 7 sped off to where Sakura had spotted their mentor.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

As it turned out, Naruto's assessment was proving true. Kakashi was holding back Naga and the two were fighting evenly, exchanging blows and jutsu readily with neither gaining or giving ground. Finally, Naga seemed to grow frustrated and made the seal of the rabbit.

"Kekkei Genkai: Gotai Kongou!" (1)

As if by magic, Chakra surrounded Naga's entire body and after a few moments, his body seemed to be harder and rugged. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if he had heard of this before and uncovered his lone Sharingan eye. He charged Naga and threw a blow; surprisingly, Naga made no move to evade it. When the blow landed, Kakashi's hand was introduced to a new world of pain which disoriented him. Somehow, Naga charged very quickly and began landing blow after blow, each hurting Kakashi so badly he thought he was dying. After the last blow, Kakashi spat out blood and Naga smirked over his almost prone form.

"This is the great Copy-Ninja Kakashi I've been hearing about? Not much for tactics, are you?"

Almost invisibly, Kakashi began forming a set of hand seals behind his back, taking advantage of Naga's distraction.

"No, not really. I've always been one more for hit and run than anything else."

Seeming to gain a second wind, Kakashi clasped his palms together and formed a crackling mass of Chakra. Still in considerable pain, Kakashi leapt forward.

"CHIDORI!"

Kakashi had managed to land his one original technique onto Naga, with the Earth-nin looking shocked. However, Naga soon regained his smirk, and Kakashi pulled back his hand. Shockingly, the Chidori had only caused a small crack in Naga's armor.

Exhausted, Kakashi's head slumped back, breathing heavily.

"Looks like this is the end Copy Ninja. Any last words?"

Kakashi's unscarred eye widened in surprise and then he gave a smile.

"Just one: Duck!"

Confused, Naga turned around and was instantly dogpiled by Sasuke and several Naruto Bushin. Caught by surprise, Naga struggled in their grasp.

Meanwhile, the original Naruto and Sakura had begun to form handseals. Sakura was the first to finish and slammed her palms onto the ground; seemingly out of nowhere, a boulder slicked with natural gas had risen out of the ground. Sakura used her Chakra enhanced strength to lift it, and gave a mighty toss towards Naruto's direction, aiming skyward.

"Good job Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled. "Now go and relieve Sasuke, I'll need him for the next part!"

Sakura hurried towards Naga while Naruto had completed his jutsu. Clasping his palms together, he leaned back and cupped his hands, gathering Chakra. When he finished, Naruto stood straight under the boulder and let out a furious gust of wind which kept the boulder aloft above him. It was a difficult task, and Naruto's face began to gain beads of sweat.

Finally, Sasuke had arrived; wasting no time, he put into place the second part of their triple assault and began his own set of handseals.

"KATON: KARYUU ENDAN!"

A great dragon of fire burst forth from Sasuke's mouth, instantly lighting the boulder ablaze.

"Great job Sasuke! Now hurry and tell Sakura to go and relieve Kakashi if this doesn't work!" Naruto panted.

Sasuke nodded and quickly ran off. Naruto continued to keep the ball of fire aloft and was beginning to tire, but began to take aim at Naga. When it looked like he could stand no more, he heard "All clear!"

His energy renewed, Naruto lowered his hands and leapt back, the ball quickly falling. Suddenly, the young ninja thrust his hands out and the same burst of wind came out, making the ball of fire rocket towards Naga.

"SANJUTSU: HINOTE NO NAGAREBOSHI!" (2)

Sasuke and Sakura had gotten out just in time, and with Kakashi in tow had ran as fast as they could, seemingly in a panic. When they reached Naruto, he joined in the running. Why this was happening was made apparent three seconds later, as the sound of an immense impact was heard. A second later, a ferocious wind erupted and trees shook; a fire began to spread, only to become extinguished; most startling was the immense Chakra backlash that resulted, sending a wave that could be felt for miles. After about a minute, the effects died down.

Naruto politely ordered Sakura to heal whatever she could of Kakashi's wounds and stand guard; he and Sasuke settled out to determine whether or not Naga was gone.

A few minutes later, they came across Naga… or at least what was left of him. The Iwa-nin had been almost completely and totally fried to a crisp, the only thing saving him his bloodline. Still, seeing the many ruptured blood vessels and bits of bone jerking out, as well as the fact that Naga wasn't breathing, it was safe to say that the man was dead. Naruto and Sasuke both stared at each other as if a sudden understanding had come between them; with mutual consent, they threw up.

"You know Naruto… I've always said I want to kill Itachi, but if this is what death is like… I'm not so sure anymore." Sasuke panted.

Naruto, panting as well, adopted a grim look. "Sorry Sasuke but if we are to become true ninja, we're going to have to get used to this someday. Might as well be now."

Sasuke gave him a glare. "That doesn't make it any easier."

"You're right, it doesn't."

Sakura had emerged, escorting a wounded but slightly better looking Kakashi. Kakashi seemed to take their accomplishment in stride; Sakura however had now seen the damage they had caused and like her comrades, threw up. After a few moments of no one saying a thing and standing with an awkward silence, Kakashi broke the ice.

"What the hell was that?!"

The three Genin couldn't help it. They began to laugh uproariously, with tears streaming from their eyes. Whether it was from sadness, humor, or a combination of both, one couldn't say.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

When they had made it back to camp, Kakashi had sent a messenger bird to Konoha reporting their status and that one of Iwa's missing-nin was dead. Naruto had begun to cook dinner as it was his turn, and Sasuke and Sakura rested for a brief period.

Finished with his task, Kakashi gave all three of his Genin a penetrating stare, as if to say 'You've had your time. Now fess up!'

All three gave a sigh and glanced at each other. Finally, Sasuke of all people began to explain.

"The jutsu you just saw Kakashi-sensei… was one we developed to capitalize on teamwork. We all argued over various mechanics of the jutsu, but we all agreed that combining the strength of three Genin would be a powerful last resort in a fight."

Sakura continued. "It took a while to get the timing down. It was especially hard for me to form that rock with fuel on it."

Kakashi interrupted them with a cough. "Wait just a minute. Why don't you explain this to me in detail? I don't understand this part about fuel."

Naruto decided to give it a try. "Well Kakashi-sensei, we started the jutsu by having Sakura-chan use a modified earth jutsu which normally would form a boulder of material in the ground. In our version, the rock also has natural gasses and a bit of oil from deep underground covered on almost all of it. When Sakura-chan finished, she would throw it to my position and I would keep it high in the air."

Kakashi looked fascinated, so Sakura continued. "When Naruto-kun was keeping the boulder in the air, Sasuke would come and light the ball on fire with his strongest fire jutsu. The two of us would aid each other and distract the enemy why Naruto-kun aimed. When we would see him begin to drop, Sasuke, you and I would clear out so the ball of fire could quickly rocket like a meteor into the enemy."

Kakashi looked startled. "Well… well done you three. An excellent display of teamwork and… probably the first S-rank Ninjutsu I can remember that Genin were able to perform."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at the man with their mouths gaping; the technique was THAT powerful!?

In the meantime, Naruto gave a grim smile. "Not Ninjutsu Kakashi-sensei… Sanjutsu."

Kakashi gave a grin.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

It had been four days since Sandaime Hokage had sent Team 7(minus Kakashi) on their first C-rank mission.

He sat in what was for once a peaceful silence, free of anything that might disturb him. The Genin were due to return quite soon, and he was waiting for Kakashi's report. After about another minute, a poof of smoke signaled the return of Konoha's famous 'copy-ninja'.

"Hatake Kakashi, reporting as ordered Hokage-sama."

"Ah Kakashi. I expected you to be at least an hour late." Sarutobi chuckled. However, when he saw the serious expression on Kakashi's face, his own turned grim. "What is it Kakashi? Did Naruto's leadership not turn out as well as we had hoped?"

Kakashi sighed. "Not exactly Hokage-sama. Naruto and his teammates performed amazingly well considering it was their first C-rank mission and combat situation. They all showed exceptional teamwork, individual skill and were able to keep their cool… for the most part."

Sarutobi frowned, beginning to understand where Kakashi's tone was coming from. "What do you mean, 'for the most part'? Did they lose their heads? Did you have to save them?"

"No, they ended up losing their heads at the near end of the mission. In order to save me of all people, all three of them had to end up taking a life. The first kill is always the hardest after all." Kakashi replied.

Sandaime gave a short laugh of bitterness. "Kakashi, no kill isn't hard… unless you are insane. Sometimes I wonder if we should invest more into psychological help if people like Uchiha Itachi and Orochimaru are the result."

Kakashi frowned, although it was hard to tell with his ever-present mask. "Hokage-sama, with all due respect, the fact is that ninja have to kill at some point or the other, and they do it continuously. The only way we could honestly ease the pain would be to have our ninja give up the profession entirely, and some would never do that considering the effort they put into getting where they are. The only real way we could stop our people from becoming insane is to overthrow every government in the nearby lands and change them forever… and you know that for one ninja village, that goal is impossible."

Sarutobi slumped in his chair with a sigh, looking far older than Kakashi had ever seen him. "You are right Kakashi. The only real thing we can do at this point is to help support our Shinobi. How exactly was the kill committed?"

Kakashi's face gained some emotion at this. "You're not going to believe this…"

Kakashi then narrated the spectacular display of teamwork his Genin had displayed, culminating in the newly named Sanjutsu. Sarutobi's eyes bugged out and his pipe clattered to the floor as his mouth opened wide, so in awe of the power behind this attack.

Kakashi concluded by saying. "It would probably be a good idea to make this and probably any future Sanjutsu A to S-rank Hokage-sama."

Seeming to gain back a bit of color, Sarutobi coughed and nodded. "I agree. It wouldn't be wise for our enemies to learn of such a powerful jutsu ability… even if they already have felt it."

Kakashi raised a brow questioningly. "What do you mean?"

Sarutobi sighed. "Kakashi, that Sanjutsu as you called it was felt around a five mile radius. Spies from Leaf, Mist, Grass and Cloud who were investigating the new Otogakure no Sato have undoubtedly reported back to their respective leaders as the ANBU did to me. As a result, the number of applicants for the Chuunin exams has increased by forty percent and these countries are now sending the best of their Genin to compete, regardless of whether they feel the children are ready or not." Sarutobi picked up his pipe and gave a long drag. "I digress though, how did your Genin deal with the aftermath?" Sarutobi asked.

"Naruto performed as any professional Shinobi would. He buried his feelings and got both Sasuke and Sakura home. Sakura was taken back to her parents to recover and Naruto insisted on bringing Sasuke to my place just to have a familiar face. It's a good idea, but I'm worried about him." Kakashi sighed.

"Worried? Why would that be Kakashi?"

"Because he doesn't have anyone to confide in about this incident now; I know he has a guardian, but I have no clue how to contact this 'Tatsu', and was wondering if you could help." Kakashi finished.

Sarutobi gave a long drag of his pipe. "Yes… that seems like it would be for the best. I shall contact Tatsu Kakashi, and tell him of his young ward's plight. Seeing Tatsu again might cheer young Naruto up."

With a curt wave, Kakashi was dismissed and Sarutobi waited a few moments. When the coast was clear, he took out what seemed to be a watch of some sort and pressed a round button on its bottom face. Sarutobi then spoke into said watch.

"Tatsu-san? Your ward needs you now. Let me explain what has happened…"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

While one would gain the impression that Sandaime Hokage was speaking directly to the infamous Tatsu, that would not be the case. In fact, Tatsu was currently in the middle of a rather nice dream, one which will not be spoken of in this story as to maintain its current rating. Right in the middle of the 'best' part, Tatsu was rudely interrupted by the ringing of his 'phone'.

Opening what looked to be a bloodshot eye, Tatsu quickly tried to cover his eyes with his arm, in a futile attempt to stay asleep, hoping that whoever was calling would stop soon. Sadly, such a thing was not to pass. Finally, Tatsu knew that such a thing wouldn't happen anytime soon, judging by the tenth ring. Tatsu sighed, and slowly began to get up from his bed. Putting a hand over his aching eyes, Tatsu picked up his receiver.

"Yeah?"

Tatsu began to listen and opened his mouth as to interrupt but began listening intently. His expression began to turn serious.

"I see. Where's the kid now?"

Tatsu listened.

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can."

Stretching and yawning, Tatsu slowly began to rise. As he put on a pair of shorts that seemed to have been tossed on the floor from the night before, he noticed a squirming figure hogging the covers on the other side. Tatsu looked surprised, then smirked.

"I guess it wasn't a dream."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Once again, Konohagakure no Sato was playing host to the enigmatic 'traveler' Muhi Tatsu. People in the streets began to stare at the odd haired man, but when they saw his attire, which was a spitting image of Naruto's own, they seemed to realize something on their own.

All of this didn't matter to said Tatsu, who seemed intent on searching for his charge. Strangely enough, he didn't scan the crowds, but did occasionally make a turn or backtrack. Along the way, several members of the soon to be named 'Rookie Nine' saw him and tried to say hello, but he brusquely explained that he had no time to chat. They all were rather surprised; Tatsu, while a bit uncouth, seemed quite friendly the last time they had met.

Finally, Tatsu had found his young charge sitting on a tree branch, eyes vacant. Tatsu gave a sigh and began climbing said tree.

When he made it to his Little One's branch, Tatsu didn't speak for several minutes while his young charge stared at him, eyes seeming to ask something. Finally, a dam broke and Naruto began to wail into his guardian's chest. Tatsu responded in kind, holding the boy close to him. Finally, Naruto stopped after about ten minutes. Tatsu gave a sad smile.

"Do you want to go home for a little while?" the white haired man asked.

Naruto nodded. Tatsu picked up his Little One and placed the boy on his shoulders. Becoming a makeshift piggyback ride, Tatsu leapt off the tree and gave a running start.

As Sarutobi witnessed these goings on in his crystal ball, he knew it would be several days before one of his more promising Shinobi would return. Looking over Naruto's submitted mission report, he gave the final 'approved' status.

A person can either grow or suffer from emotional shock. Sarutobi believed that Naruto could have suffered, but with someone to show him the way, he would now grow in new, unforeseen ways. Even though the man had been a stranger, Tatsu was what Naruto had needed; someone to care.

Muhi Tatsu was a far wiser man than Sarutobi could have imagined. Despite his faults…

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

True as predicted, Naruto had come back within three days. In the meantime, Kakashi had canceled all duties for Team 7 as he had felt Sasuke and Sakura could also use time to recuperate.

When they had come again for the first team meeting in that time, he noticed that his students seemed to be basically the same as they had been before, but subtle differences marked their rite of passage. One thing that immediately struck him was that the Genin weren't training as they usually did during his bouts of tardiness. Deciding to check upon their progress, he glanced out of a nearby tree, musing on the appearances of his comrades.

Sasuke no longer seemed to possess nearly as much arrogance as he had before; the feeling of completely making someone disappear from the world had put the young prodigy into a state of thinking in which he had hardly eaten or slept. Because Kakashi had Sasuke stay at his apartment for that time, he had heard something that had shocked him to his very core; Sasuke had actually questioned whether or not he should pursue Itachi at all for a day or so. Sasuke seemed to have had a rather disturbing dream that night; when he awoke, the 'avenger' privately told his sensei that while killing Itachi was still a goal of his, he would rather do it not for revenge, but to make sure that his brother couldn't take any other lives.

Sakura seemed quite tense; Kakashi believed that since she had no Shinobi in her family, she had no one to talk to about this sort of thing. Giving a soft sigh as he looked at the girl, he resolved to have either Kurenai or Anko talk with the talented Kunoichi.

Surprisingly, the sensitive Naruto looked to be the least affected by the ordeal. Although the Copy-nin knew that Naruto's guardian had spoken with him, Muhi Tatsu didn't seem like the type to take death lightly. Maybe the man was more talented with words than he had thought?

Either way, Kakashi finally decided to make his appearance. Leaping out of a nearby tree, his Genin seemed to have been shaken by his show.

_Maybe I ought to let them know early… I'll try anything if it gets them out of this depressed state._

Clearing his throat, Kakashi slipped a hand into his pocket and took out three slips of paper.

"Hey you guys. I have some important news."

The Genin gave a curious look towards the Copy-Nin as if urging him to go on.

"While it isn't official yet, I believe that all three of you are ready to take the Chuunin exams this period. I'll officially give my nomination to Hokage-sama in a few days; if you're all up for it, take these nominations to room 301 at the academy on July 31st."

Kakashi noted the expressions of his students. Surprisingly, even Sakura began to look incredulous, then quite happy. In fact, Naruto and Sakura began to dance around in a circle, and pulled a reluctant Sasuke along with them. Eventually, even Sasuke gave a small smile.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're the best! Oh we've got to get started on training plans everyone!" Naruto yelled somewhat uncharacteristically. He didn't mention the Sanjutsu, as the subject was still a little sore with the three of them.

Sasuke and Sakura's faces became somewhat somber, but didn't lose much of their cheer.

"Actually Naruto…" Sakura spoke hesitantly. "Sasuke and I talked about this, and we think you should help Hinata, Shino, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino and everyone else. Remember? They asked for your help again right before our mission?"

Naruto slapped his hand over his forehead. "Oh, I forgot! I'll have to get everyone together and see how their training is going… but, are you both sure you don't need my help? Do I not… help you anymore?"

"NO! Um, I mean, no Naruto." Sasuke said embarrassed. "You gave us a lot of help. Sakura and I just think that it would be unfair to the rest of us if you only taught the two on your own team."

Sakura gave a smirk. "After all, we all have grown to treasure your help… Naruto-sensei."

Both Naruto and Sasuke groaned, but inwardly, were amazed at how much Sakura had come from her academy days. Joking, passionate and being a smart mouth to even her sensei… yes, this certainly wasn't the fan girl Sakura they had known at the academy.

"Well, okay then… but I don't think I should be allowed to talk about everyone else's training arrangements, especially the ones we have. Is that alright?" Naruto said hesitantly.

Sasuke just gave a smirk, a bit of cockiness still remaining. "It wouldn't be any fun otherwise. Do what you have to do Naruto. I look forward to seeing what you can accomplish with the others."

"And everyone else will probably be elected for the Chuunin exams too. From what I've heard from Ino, her team needs the help even if Hinata's doesn't!" Sakura emphasized.

Naruto gave a sheepish smile. "Geez… I don't know why I have to keep saying this you two, but I don't DO anything. I just give suggestions!"

Both of his teammates gave him a look that said 'You aren't fooling anyone'. Giving a nervous chuckle, Naruto leapt off towards the training grounds of Teams Eight and Ten respectively. After watching Naruto go off into the distance, Sasuke and Sakura turned around quickly and gave a penetrating gaze to their 'sensei'.

"…What?" Kakashi let out.

"What? Teach us something sensei! Without Naruto, we don't have anything new to work on!" Sakura said indignantly. Although Sasuke didn't speak, his glare gave the same message as Sakura.

Kakashi put a finger to his temple, in thought. "Well… why don't you both show me what you know?"

Exasperated that the man who was supposed to be their sensei didn't even know what they all did, the two Genin walked away and began a sparring match…

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Indeed, as Sakura had said, Team Ten had reached a plateau in their training. While Chouji had already perfected enlarging his limbs, Ino had somehow blackmailed her father into teaching her the Shinrashin no Jutsu, and even Shikamaru had given in and worked on teamwork exercises with the two of his teammates, the team was still below Naruto's own in overall skill. Sarutobi Asuma believed in letting his team 'train at their own pace', believing his team hadn't the drive for truly serious training. That and he hadn't a clue as to what they should work on. So Naruto had spent a good portion of his time helping the Ino-Shika-Chou trio, and one day idly asked if they had been nominated for the Chuunin exams too. They let slip this fact to Team Kurenai and at the end of the day, Kakashi's beloved Icha-Icha Paradise was held hostage on the charge of 'giving away crucial information'.

After the two Jounin had seen what the effect of being nominated had on their young students, they grudgingly gave Kakashi his book back, while he sobbed tears of joy. Every time they saw their students (as Naruto had them undergoing training so secret they didn't even want their own sensei to know.) Kurenai, Kakashi and Asuma could tell that they were improving at a steady pace. After hearing about the now infamous Sanjutsu, all sorts of wild possibilities were hypothesized by the Jounin-sensei; some were so ridiculous to the point of hilarity such as Asuma's suggestion of a cow summoning contract for Ino; this remark swiftly got him hit by Kurenai.

Even Sasuke and Sakura, asking for Kakashi's help for the first time ever, still refused to show him their hardest labors. He had been floored at the sparring match he had seen however; medical jutsu, elemental affinities, high level chakra control and now a variation of the Sanjutsu which was called the Nijutsu. These were less powerful, but still packed quite a wallop when used well.

Who in the hell WAS Naruto? Was this what it felt like to Sarutobi when he had taught the Sannin?

Finally, the time came when the nominations were to be given…

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Many Jounin and several Chuunin gathered. Sandaime Hokage had just announced that in several days, the biannual Chuunin exam was to be held in Konohagakure no Sato, a momentous event indeed.

"Now then," Sarutobi motioned for attention. "Do any of the new Jounin-sensei wish to put forth nominations?"

All three new Jounin-sensei stepped forward. Kakashi spoke first.

"The Kakashi lead Team 7: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Muhi Naruto. Under the name of Hatake Kakashi, I nominate the three of them for the Chuunin examinations."

This caused quite a ruckus within the crowd, but Kurenai almost immediately spoke afterwards.

"The Kurenai lead Team 8: Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata. Under the name of Yuuhi Kurenai, I do the same as my predecessor."

"The Asuma led Team 10: Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, Yamanaka Ino. Under the name of Sarutobi Asuma I do the same as my predecessors."

All THREE rookie teams had been nominated? The Jounin and Chuunin in the crowds began to whisper amongst themselves, convinced that the senseis were having a petty rivalry. Surprisingly, Umino Iruka, whom Sarutobi had thought would complain on the matter, was silent. However, a booming voice broke out anyway.

"Kakashi my eternal rival! Do you truly wish to extinguish the flames of youth your students possess? I waited for a year to train my students and I am confident that they will do well that they are prepared! Are your students truly ready?" Maito Gai said 'exuberantly'.

Kakashi gave a lazy look to Gai. "My students might not have had the time yours have Gai, but you forgot two important details. The first is that I've got the 'Student-Teacher' Muhi Naruto on my side…"

Remembering the boy who had beaten the Uchiha prodigy in one blow, and whom he had heard became an acting-Chuunin straight out of the academy, Gai became somewhat mollified.

"The second?" Gai asked.

"I don't play favorites, so I don't need the extra time." Of course, Kakashi did this while reading. Surprisingly, it wasn't Icha Icha Paradise, but a manga called Tenjho Tenge Naruto had shown him. Sure it didn't have the gratuitous nudity that his previous books had had, but it came close. Diversity was the spice of life after all…

While Shiranui Genma and Gekkou Hayate kept Gai from murdering his 'eternal rival', Sarutobi asked the remaining Jounin if any had any more Genin who hadn't already taken the exam. No one answered, so Sarutobi began to close the meeting.

"All right then. Thirteen new Genin shall enter the Chuunin exams this year, let us hope they make Konoha proud." Sarutobi exclaimed.

Kurenai gave a start. "Thirteen? Hokage-sama, I thought there were only twelve in the teams this year!"

"That is true Kurenai. However, I have recently elected a lone Genin myself that I believe shows potential. He has not had a team, but has qualified and passed the academy and his sensei's test. Because of a recent mission, his teammates were killed, and he was the only one left from the ordeal." Sarutobi explained.

Kakashi's lone eye narrowed. "What is the name of this lone Genin?"

Sarutobi gave a long tug on his pipe.

"Muhi Ryu."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Meanwhile, three Genin most of us know quite well were busy training.

"Hey did you hear? For the first time in years, three rookie Genin teams are going to take the Chuunin Exams?" a green clad boy remarked.

A girl in pink who looked a bit like a certain Street Fighter II character grinned viciously. "Feh. It's probably just some Jounin rivalry that's going on."

"I don't think so. One of the teams is taught by THAT Kakashi!" the green-clad boy continued.

"Hatake Kakashi? Really?" the girl asked as she let forth a Kunai. Both of her male teammates gave a mental wince when they saw what part of the anatomy the girl had been aiming at.

"Still…" a meditating boy and the last of the team mused. "You can't help but feel sorry for them."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The day of the exam had finally arrived. As instructed, all three members of Team 7 had gone to the academy, and were startled to see the amount of Genin that were in the waiting room. Noticing a Genjutsu over the stairwell which they were supposed to go through, the three went forward, noticing a team getting knocked away from two men who seemed to be exam veterans. Sasuke walked forward and opened his mouth as if to spoil their 'surprise Genjutsu', but Naruto put a hand over his mouth. Signaling him to be quiet, Naruto pointed at himself, than his teammates, then the door as if to say he had the matter in hand.

Slightly disgruntled, Sasuke nodded and for the first time he could remember, Naruto took off his ever present sunglasses. He was hoping for a quick look at the boy's eyes, but after only three seconds, they were back on. The two troublemakers, in the meantime, looked dazed and mechanically moved aside. The Kunoichi who had been knocked aside had hearts in her eyes, her teammate's eyes also looking dazed, and Sakura gained a small look of jealousy. Nonetheless, Naruto seemed not to notice, and motioned for his teammates to continue.

After passing a few doors, they came across their erstwhile sensei, Kakashi. He gave a smile as if pleased.

"Good, you all came. If you hadn't, you would have failed this exam at once."

Groaning at Kakashi's perverse sense of humor, Naruto spoke. "Teamwork again, eh sensei?"

"Right. Now go on, we don't have all day you know."

The three Genin walked forward, confident, proud and ready for whatever they might face.

Or so they thought…

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Hi again everyone! Thanks for all the great reviews. Sorry, this is a rather short chapter, but I've just started college and getting used to the demanding schedule. A few authors notes here for any questions:

Sasuke does seem OOC, and he is to a certain extent, but keep in mind, this Sasuke has had different experiences from the one we know. Naruto is better than he is, so he's slightly humbled. He also has someone willing to teach him and not expect him to get it on his own. Why do you think he was so frustrated with his father and Itachi when he was younger? They ended up putting him down and not taking him seriously. In fact, I'm guessing that's the real reason Sasuke wants to kill Itachi. He wants his parents back sure, but seriously, it's kind of more like Sasuke wanting to prove himself to his clan by being better than his 'genius' brother.

Muhi Ryu? Sorry, not going to say anything about this, except that no, he is not a relative of Tatsu's. Also, the training of everyone else is a guarded secret. You won't find out that stuff until the preliminaries.

There wasn't a wave country arc because frankly, I hate that part of the story. The mission they undertake in this chapter serves the same kind of lessons, but differently. Frankly I don't want to write the wave arc because it's been overdone, and I'm sick of it. Chuunin exams are a lot more interesting. Haku might still be in the cards though, as I always did like his character. Also, Konohamaru serves no purpose to this story, so no running into the Sand trio until later. Don't get me wrong, they are some of my favorite characters, but let's just say Team Eight ran into them instead.

The Sanjutsu is based on the Triple Techniques from the video game Chrono Trigger which used similar attacks. I figured that if Crono and the gang could combine attacks, why not Team 7?

Please read and review, as always.

1. Original Jutsu 'Diamond Body' technique: A bloodline which gives Naga the ability to make his body as strong as diamond; with Chakra pumped into the technique, it becomes even harder; with a strong defense like this, it's no wonder Naga was able to best Chidori.

2. Translation is roughly 'Three person jutsu: Great Star of Fire or Flaming Meteor'


	7. Not your father's exam

As Konoha's Team 7 stepped into the waiting room for their first exam, it soon became apparent that they were in for a tougher time than they had thought. A lot of the potentials turned and gave them menacing looks, but the three could tell that if they were stooping to such measures, these Genin weren't worth much. It was the ones that appeared bored or uninterested that worried Team Naruto.

After months of working with their 'student teacher', Sasuke and Sakura had picked up on a subtle method of sensing ability within ninja. Admittedly, it wasn't perfect, but it usually was a good gauge of an approximate amount of strength. Using even just a small amount of this ability at all a time allowed them to distinguish between various types of Ninjutsu and was useful for seeing through Genjutsu. So it was with no small surprise that they sensed several teams other than those Team 7 was familiar with that held no small amount of power.

Near the center was a team from what seemed to be Sunagakure; a boy wearing Kabuki face paint, a blonde girl with a gigantic fan strapped to her back, and a small boy with a gourd on his back who looked as if he hadn't slept in years. Surprisingly to Sasuke and Sakura, they could tell that the little one was the strongest of them.

Another powerful team looked to be from Mist; as was typical of Mist Shinobi, all three team members used blades. One of them, a boy, was tall and had white hair; he looked somewhat surly and his demeanor reminded Team 7 of Sasuke before his days with Naruto and Sakura. The girl with them, a blonde, carried a massive battle axe and wore high heeled white boots. The one who seemed to be their leader, and who emanated the most power, was small but had an aura of menace around him. The small boy's hair was blue, unusual even for the ninja world, and was dressed in a bizarre garment made of crimson; his weapons were two twin-bladed swords. His emerald eyes scanned the crowd as if a predator was trying to decide who the most satisfying prey to go after was and even Naruto was unnerved by him.

Sasuke noticed one nin from Kumogakure who seemed to stand out as well; although his teammates didn't seem special, the one in front had a manic grin on his face. Although one often saw strange looks on ninja, this one was especially odd looking with hair the color of midnight with a white streak in the middle looking as if he had just been shocked by a bolt of lightning. The boy didn't seem to notice him though, but the Kumo nin was pointedly looking at the backside of one of the older kunoichi. A team from Grass looked pointedly Sasuke's way, and though he didn't sense a strong power from them, something seemed... off about them and made sure to keep an eye on them as well.

Possibly the strangest of them all though was a small, white-haired Genin who wore a dark green flak jacket similar to those worn by Chuunin, a pair of combat boots and oddly, a pair of beige khakis. What made Naruto gasp however, was that the boy sported sunglasses and looked like a spitting image of his guardian, Muhi Tatsu.

Out of nowhere, Naruto abruptly felt a small body glomp him and a squeal being let out.

"Naruto-kun! Why didn't you tell us you were here?"

Yamanaka Ino hugged the student teacher affectionately and a wee bit uncomfortable, Naruto gently lowered her away.

"We just got here Ino-chan; scoping out the competition and all that."

"Well you should make sure not to count us out!"

Team eight had come up as well, and Naruto gave his friends a warm smile. Hinata was still a bit shy, and quietly asked how he was.

"Hinata-chan, we just saw each other yesterday. I'm still fine!" Naruto chuckled.

As Hinata blushed, a taller Genin who wore glasses approached them.

"Hey you little rookies should be more careful! Geez, screaming like a bunch of schoolgirls..." the tall boy muttered.

"Who are you to say that?" Sakura said irritated.

"I'm Yakushi Kabuto, an exam veteran. I wouldn't go around being too much louder if I were you; those guys from Hidden Rain have nasty tempers."

In fact, said Genin were glaring at the new 'Rookie Nine' in menacingly; most of the rookies though just looked bored at this display and looked away.

Kabuto smiled in a disarming fashion. "Since I'm feeling especially charitable today, I think I'll help out you cute rookies." The bespectacled boy took out a pack of what seemed to be blank cards and spread a few in a single hand.

"These are my nin-info cards. They contain information on nearly every participant in these exams, lovingly compiled by yours truly. I just put some Chakra into the card, and the info you desire is shown!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed but didn't say anything. Sasuke stepped forward though, and so did Kiba.

"Do you have any information on Sabaku no Gaara?" Kiba asked.

"Or Rock Lee?" Sasuke said.

"Oh, you know their names, that'll make it a lot easier!" With a flourish, Kabuto took his cards and picked one seemingly at random. Gathering a small amount of Chakra to his fingertip, Kabuto placed it upon the card and images and symbols appeared as if by magic.

"Rock Lee of Konoha; Teammates are TenTen and Hyuuga Neji, sensei is Maito Gai. Mission history is thirty two D-rank missions, five C-rank. His Ninjutsu and Genjutsu are nothing special, but his Taijutsu is through the roof." Kabuto detailed.

"When did you run into a guy like this Sasuke?" Sakura asked. "He looks a little creepy with those eyebrows and that spandex too!"

Sasuke looked a little embarrassed. "Kakashi… recommended him to me for Taijutsu sparring. Naruto-sensei did say we should look for many different partners after all." Sasuke said with a smirk.

As Naruto groaned, Kabuto went on. "Sabaku no Gaara; teammates are Temari and Kankuro, sensei is Baki. D-rank missions unknown, twelve C-rank missions and one B-rank. He is known for coming back from all of his missions without a scratch."

Kiba's eyes widened in alarm, Hinata looked a little intimidated and even Shino raised a brow in surprise.

Naruto gave a piercing glance to Kabuto. "Would you happen to have any information on the azure-haired boy from Mist? Or the lone Genin wearing the flak jacket from Konoha?"

Kabuto gave a start, but soon resumed his smile. "Let me see…"

Kabuto shuffled through his cards and gave a triumphant look. "Here we are. The boy from Mist is called Tri-Edge; his real name is unknown. His teammates are Haseo and Ryoko, and their instructor is Helba. They have done no D-rank missions, twenty C-rank, four B-rank and one A-rank. His Kenjutsu is supposedly near Jounin level, and his other stats are unknown. He is also said to possess a powerful bloodline."

When even Sasuke began to look unsettled at this news, Naruto motioned for Kabuto to go on.

"The second one is Muhi Ryu; his teammates and sensei are now dead and he is taking this exam by himself. He has accomplished 8 D-rank missions and 1 C-rank. Everything else about him is unknown. Might he be related to you, Naruto-san?" Kabuto asked.

Naruto's mouth thinned. "I don't know… but I'm going to find out."

Kabuto gave a nod. "Mist, Leaf, Sand, Rain, Grass, Rock, Cloud, Waterfall. Each a powerful Shinobi village, they have all brought their elite Genin to participate in this exam and it will be difficult to overcome them all; well, with the possible exception of the newly formed Hidden Sound. They have barely enough Shinobi to qualify as a village at all."

It seemed as if the team from Sound hadn't taken kindly to Kabuto's statement and narrowed their eyes with killing intent. Before they could do anything though, a voice broke through the silence Kabuto's information had made with its impression upon the Genin.

"You know Kabuto-san, it isn't nice to learn things about people without asking them about it first."

Muhi Ryu had walked lazily with hands behind his head, a grin affixed to his face.

"You seem to have an awful lot of information for just a Genin Kabuto-san. How many times did you say you- oh, hold on."

In what seemed a blink of the eye, Ryu had disappeared in a burst of speed. The next instant he was back.

"Sorry about that. I had to deal with a few pests."

To both the Genin's and Kabuto's own unfeigned shock, the three members of Team Sound were now laid against a section of the room's wall, the foundation heavily cracked. Apparently, Ryu had stopped an attack from all three in mere seconds.

"Now as I was saying Kabuto-san, how many times did you say you have taken this exam?" Ryu asked.

Seemingly in a daze, Kabuto answered sheepishly. "This is my seventh time. I'm afraid I'm not very good at this."

"Oh? Surviving a dangerous exam like this is quite an accomplishment, especially seven times. Why have you always failed? One would think with all that battle experience, you'd be a worthy Chuunin."

Kabuto began to sweat just a little. "I always am too exhausted to continue in the third exam. I'm sorry Ryu-san, but I don't really like to talk about my failures."

Ryu waved at him as if to say the matter was forgotten. "All right then. Just remember…"

Ryu used another burst of speed appearing right in front of Kabuto with a menacing smirk.

"I know who you are… spy!" He whispered.

Kabuto desperately attempted to keep his cool, the only sign of his surprise a slight widening of the eyes. In the meantime, the Rookie Nine and the other Genin teams were looking at the now cheerful Ryu with a mixture of fear and apprehension.

"Naruto… are you sure this guy isn't related to Tatsu-san?" Chouji asked.

"I'm beginning to wonder that myself…"

The sudden quiet only lasted a few seconds as the doors slammed open loudly. A large surly looking man and a group of similarly dressed people came out.

"All right you worthless bastards! I'm Morino Ibiki, the first examiner! Follow me so we can begin!"

Ibiki glanced to his right.

"Oi! What happened to the team from Otogakure! You bastards weren't supposed to fight in here!" Ibiki yelled.

"Ah sorry Ibiki-sensei!" Ryu called out loudly. "They were getting rowdy, so I stopped them before a nasty fight could break out."

Ibiki looked at the sunglasses wearing boy and gave a sneer.

"Well don't let it happen again! If you pull another stunt in here like that, you're immediately disqualified!"

"Hai hai!" Ryu exclaimed cheerfully. Ibiki put his hand to his forehead in exasperation, and motioned for the examiners to get started. They all went around the room passing out papers with various numbers to the exam participants; the examiners motioned and told the participants to make their way into the next room and many began shuffling forward in a huddled mass.

As the various examinees settled down and sat into their assigned seats, most sat down nervously in anticipation. A few others, like Naruto and Sakura however, began looking at the questions and gained questioning looks on their faces. Ibiki stepped in front of the black board and opened his mouth to speak.

"Listen up, this shall be the only time I will explain how this first of the Chuunin exams will work." Ibiki rumbled

"This test is a written test, as you have probably noticed. The grading system will be explained shortly," Ibiki said as he turned to face the board. He began to speak again as he wrote the summarized version on the board.

"This test's grading system is based on a basis of penalization. You all start off with ten points and each question that you get wrong will result in a subtraction of a point. Those who have no points are automatically disqualified. However, there is a catch." The people in the room were slightly confused by the grading system. There was something behind it. The Genin waited patiently as Ibiki continued.

"The catch is," Ibiki continued, "that cheating in any way shape or form will result in the automatic subtraction of two points from your score. That means that there is a chance that you will be disqualified before your test is graded. If you want to be Chuunin you must act like Shinobi! Those who cheat unwisely will be punished! Also, one more thing, if one member of a team fails, the other two members automatically fail as well."

Ibiki suppressed a smirk as he saw the panicked reactions of various examinees. He was surprised however, to see that several of the Genin only had pensive looks on their faces, rather than fear. Ibiki gave the one hour time limit, and the Genin soon went to work.

Naruto began to look at his test paper, going through each question.

_Question 1: If a Shinobi throws a Kunai at point A into a dead person's skull, would it have just as much affect on a ghost as a living target?_

_Question 4: What was missing-nin Uchiha Itachi's favorite food?_

_Question 8: Do you think legendary Sannin Tsunade's breast size is real? Why? Explain your answer and show your work._

As Naruto looked at the bizarre questions, he slowly came to two realizations. The first was that no Genin could possibly answer all of these questions. The second was that whoever had wrote this test was a total nutjob.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Muhi Tatsu gave a sudden sneeze.

"What the..? I never get sick, it's impossible. Hmm… kid must be talking about me again. Well, just wait until he gets home!"

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

For some reason, Naruto's thoughts were interrupted by a shiver running up his spine. He shook it off and resumed his train of thought.

_Act like Shinobi… must not get caught cheating… That's it! It's obvious, this is an information gathering mission in which we help teammates too! We have to conceal our cheating methods to gather information, like in a real information gathering mission!_

Excitedly, Naruto clasped his hands together and seemed like he was beginning to meditate, similar to his posture on the day he had 'changed' Sakura. A dark purple aura was beginning to manifest itself around him, and both examinees and examiners alike were befuddled at his posture. After about five minutes, the aura began to subside and Naruto seemed to have woken up from a trance. As if given a sudden jolt to his system, Naruto quickly and methodically began writing down answers. He finished and gave a smug smile; despite the examiner's best efforts, they hadn't actually seen him cheat so they couldn't penalize him. Naruto began to glance around, looking to see who else had understood the solution.

Thankfully, it looked as if his teammates had understood quite well. Sakura had evidently already finished, and was now attaching Chakra strings to Sasuke. As she pulled on his arms, one would see the two moving simultaneously at an almost impossible rate.

In the meantime, Hinata and her cousin Neji were using their clan's vaunted Byakugan to see through people and observe test answers. Tenten used a handy ability of Chakra strings and mirrors to get the answers to both her and her teammate Rock Lee. The red-haired boy from sand seemed to have formed an 'eye' out of sand and was looking over answers. Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji were using their family skills to copy and obtain information, and Shino and Kiba used their respective familiars and companions alike.

The boy known as Tri-Edge used an ability similar to Gaara's; a nearly invisible blue sphere of light came out of his body and hovered over test papers, and after a few minutes it came back while Tri-Edge began writing down answers. The Kumo-nin Sasuke had observed earlier was rubbing his temples feverishly; after several moments, his face lit up with comprehension and he also began writing.

Muhi Ryu on the other hand, hadn't written anything down at all and seemed to be asleep. However, Naruto could tell that wasn't the case and began to curiously notice that Ryu made subtle hand gestures which caused fellow examinees to yelp, trip, fall and stumble, often resulting in a penalization. In fact, this happened so often that almost half the examinees were cut; Ryu obviously was no mere Genin and Naruto resolved to find out more about the mysterious boy.

Naruto glanced curiously at the paper, reading the line that read, "The tenth question will be given forty five minutes into the exam."

Bored, he flipped his paper over and took out a manga to read.

_Oh boy! Now I get to find out if Luffy manages to defeat Rob Lucci or not!_

So engrossed in his manga, Naruto almost didn't hear Ibiki beginning to speak again. Thankfully, he read quickly and put the manga away just as the tenth question began.

"Now, before we start the tenth question, there a few special rules we will now enforce. The first is that you have a choice as to whether or not you wish to take the question."

Several teams became confused, and Ibiki continued in order to explain.

"This is because if you fail this question, not only are you and your team disqualified, but you can never become a Chuunin either. If you wish to leave now, go ahead. It is probably a wise decision, and you shall have another chance next time."

Gasps of shock and outrage were sent through the audience, Ibiki looking impassive.

Several teams panicked and decided to quit. A depressing and anxious atmosphere set upon the audience. Naruto was pleased to see that his students seemed anxious still, but none moved to give up.

"I ask again. If you wish to go, please do. If not, you can try your luck."

Again, no one motioned to give up. Ibiki gave a tense sigh.

"All right then… congratulations on passing!"

A chorus of 'Huh?' rang out through the group of examinees. Finally, Lee spoke up with a loud, demanding voice.

"What do you mean we pass! What's the tenth question!"

Naruto spoke up. "There never was a tenth question. This test was meant to test us on two very important aspects of Chuunin responsibility. The first, as many of you found out, was to test a ninja's information gathering skills. In a mission, information can mean the difference between life and death."

Annoyed that this kid had interrupted him, Ibiki opened his mouth to speak…

"The second part was-" he got out.

"A simple leap of faith." But was interrupted again by Muhi Ryu. "The decision to stay or leave was your tenth question; mainly, that question was… do you have the balls to move forward?"

Ibiki smirked. "Not quite as crude as I would have put it, but correct. The ability to act is essential to a Shinobi. A Chuunin can never hesitate when it comes to solving a dilemma and must put themselves into a situation blindly."

"All they can do then is to trust in their own power." Ryu finished. "To stand in the face of the unknown and have courage, the courage to succeed."

"Those who hesitate and always think 'I'll try again next time' will never get anywhere, always procrastinating." Naruto added. "Those people aren't worthy to become Chuunin."

Ibiki looked slightly disgruntled but pleased. "You two took the whole speech I had prepared. The first test is now…over! I wish you all further luck in the exams!"

A faint buzz began near Naruto's head and Ryu's ears began to twitch. All of the students went wide eyed as the black window breaker fluttered open and threw two kunai into the ceiling, pinning the black object, which is really a cloth, to the ceiling of the classroom. The figure started speaking in a demanding voice.

"I am Mitarashi Anko! I am your second examiner for the chuunin exams! Everyone follow me!"

People stared wide-eyed at the sight before them. All except Ryu, who even through his sunglasses looked to be appraising Anko as if she were a piece of meat. He even licked his lips.

"Kinda jumping the gun, eh Anko?" Ibiki asked. Anko only answered him with a disgruntled expression. Trying to distract herself, Anko looked at the crowd.

"30 teams? Ibiki, you left too many!"

Ibiki shrugged. "There were a lot of good ones this year; there would have been more, but someone sought to eliminate some of the competition."

Anko quickly composed herself and gave a terrifying smile to the Genin.

"Well it doesn't matter I guess. I'm going to cut them down to less than a fourth!"

Ryu yawned loudly and Anko gave him a look that could strip paint with its intensity. In a controlled tone of voice, she told them to meet her outside for information on the next exam, to be held tomorrow.

Ibiki stayed back, collecting papers. As he came across the two papers of the particularly outspoken Genin, he grew pensive.

_Muhi Naruto. Muhi Ryu. I've never heard of any Muhi clan before, but I have a feeling they're going to become big in the future…_

A/N: Hey again everyone! I'm finally back on the writing scene officially, and hope as many of you as possible will review. I'm mainly just happy that many of you encouraged me to continue as I didn't think I had so many loyal fans! 

For those of you who e-mailed me regarding what would end up happening in the story… well, that's not how things are going to happen anymore. Due to constructive criticism, as well as finally learning exactly what Akatsuki is trying to do, I've decided on some big changes in the overall story, one of which you can see here as the inclusion of different Chuunin exam opponents and events. Some will become quite important as things go on.

To answer any oncoming questions, no, Ryu is NOT Tatsu as a child, he's… something else. And to anyone who recognizes the Mist team, Kudos to you!

Finally, the questions I made up for the paper test were sort of a commentary on the original questions; who in the eff would care what exact angle and amount of positioning went into a kunai? You basically just have to throw and aim well, math isn't supposed to be a factor! And Itachi's fav. Food question is a tribute to all the fanfic authors who make out Itachi to have a Pocky addiction, as I've always felt that was rather funny.

Peace!


	8. Tales of New Ninja

The second part of the Chuunin exam was just about to begin. As the Genin began to finish gathering around their assigned meeting area, Anko looked around and decided it was time to begin.

"Welcome everyone! This shall be the site of the next part of the Chuunin exams; training area 44, also known as 'The Forest of Death'!"

Anko tried to make the Genin even more terrified than she thought they were by having a gust of wind pass through the area ominously; unfortunately, the mood was somewhat spoiled when Muhi Ryu spoke up.

"Forest of Death? That's a little lame for a name. Why not call it the Forest of Fear?" he asked.

"Or how about the 'Zone of Silence'?" Naruto suggested.

"How about 'The Point of No Return'?" Sakura continued the little game.

"Maybe-" Sasuke began.

"ENOUGH!" Anko shouted irritably. She gave Ryu a look that could curdle milk with its intensity; when she saw that he wasn't even paying attention to her, Anko threw a kunai as fast and hard as she could at the boy's shoulder.

Acting somewhat lazy, Ryu nonchalantly picked the kunai out of the air and threw it backwards. The 'genin' it sailed to from the Grass narrowly dodged it; at the same time, Anko, who had instinctively had rushed behind Ryu, found herself turned around, picked up and in the arms of the cocky ninja. Anko became incredibly surprised, then infuriated when she noticed that Ryu was now touching her chest.

As if that weren't enough, Ryu remarked: "You ARE rather attractive. I think I see why the master is interested in you."

With a shriek of rage, Anko lost control and quickly began to try and attack Ryu, intent on castrating him now. However, due to both the efforts of the examiners and Ryu himself, she was held back.

When she had finally calmed down, Anko announced to all the Genin that… you know, I don't need to do this. You all know what happens next! She announces the rules of the second exam, so let's just skip that part and get right to when they open the gates. Okay?

All right then.

With the gates opened, the remaining Genin sped forth whether it was from ground or trees, intent on their own respective plans of attack and defense respectively.

Let's look in and see how a few of them are doing, shall we?

Unlike most of the other exam participants, Muhi Ryu was not rushing through treetops. Instead, he was slowly walking with his hands in his pockets, whistling a jaunty tune and turning his head periodically. After a few moments, his whistling stopped and a grin adorned his face.

"Ah Ha! Found them!"

With a burst of speed, Ryu shot forward like a bullet. Only after a few seconds did his target become clear: the first of two teams that Sound Village had sent to the exams. They were standing over a team from the Waterfall… or what was left of them. Fast as he was, Ryu stood right behind them and loudly greeted them.

Almost instantly, the three nin turned with kunai in hand. When they saw who it was that greeted them, their expressions grew hard.

"You're the guy who got in a sucker punch on us and didn't mind his damn business!" A brunette boy yelled angrily.

Ryu just waved it off as if it were of no importance. "That doesn't matter. My master wishes to meet one of you immediately and I have to abide by his wishes. Kin-san, will you come with me willingly?"

Tsuchi Kin's face briefly registered a bit of shock, but hardened again. "The hell I will! Dosu, Zaku, it's time for some revenge!"

Ryu sighed as if disappointed. "You want to do this the hard way then? Very well."

The three Sound-nin leapt forward on all different sides to flank Ryu. Kin sent a barrage of Senbon to his left, Dosu sent a sound wave to the center and Zaku prepared a wind blast to his right. Just as the attacks were about to hit, Ryu smirked. All three attacks hit the ground and a small amount of earth was scattered in their wake. When the dust settled, they expected to see the boy at least unconscious if not dead; however, nothing but the earth remained.

"Looking for me?" a voice said to the rear.

Ryu almost instantly sent a backfist onto Dosu's sound amplifier which caused the device to crack, with it destroyed a second later. Using his momentum, Ryu planted a roundhouse kick onto the sound nin and Dosu was sent sailing into several trees.

While Kin was still paralyzed with fear and surprise, Zaku immediately tried his wind blasting arms. Ryu however, was not to be denied, and quickly got Zaku into an arm lock.

"You're quite proud of these arms, aren't you?" Ryu said mirthlessly. He began to pull at the arms.

"No, wait, don't…AAAGHH!" Zaku screamed as the white haired boy broke his arms. Zaku collapsed with the pain. Still shocked, Kin never registered the nerve pinch which sent her into the land of dreams.

Picking up the Sound girl and draping her across his shoulder, Ryu snapped his fingers and a door appeared as if out of nowhere. Opening it, Ryu bowed to whoever was on the other side.

"Secondary mission successful for now master." Ryu said cheerfully.

"Thanks. Now please drop off the girl and go Ryu, it's freezing out there!" his master complained.

"Hai, hai!"

Ryu closed the door that lead to nowhere, and waited until it closed. He smirked.

"Body search!"

Ruffling through the unconscious bodies of Zaku and Dosu, Ryu discovered to his delight an Earth scroll, the very scroll he needed to pass the exam. He also discovered, not to his delight, only ration bars for food. Ryu sighed again, and set off towards the tower, anxious for some real food.

Mitarashi Anko had reached the tower only about twenty minutes after the exam began. She quickly and insistently grabbed some dango from the tower's food area, and made her way to the monitoring station. Many of the examiners looked to be amazed and this quickly got Anko's attention.

Not much phases an experienced ninja after all.

Anko finally bit the bullet and asked what was going on. Of course, she said it in more vulgar terms, but you probably knew that. One of the examiners got out of his stupor long enough to respond.

"Anko-sama… it's unreal! Someone has broken the record for getting to the tower!" Soon-to-be-dead examiner yelled.

Anko shrugged. "What's so unreal about that? Ninja villages have had to raise their standards sometime."

"Anko-sama, you don't understand. This examinee got to the tower BY HIMSELF, in TEN MINUTES!"

Anko's eyes widened and her eyebrows shot up. She began to have a sinking suspicion about who it might be, but quickly tried to squash her fears. Then she seemed to realize something.

"Wait a minute… one person? Who was it?" Anko asked in trepidation.

"It was Muhi Ryu ma'am." The examiner answered.

Anko's eyes began to smolder and one of her hands began to clench. "Let me see the tape." She hissed.

Trembling in fear, the examiner hesitantly put the tape in at an empty monitoring station. Noticing the signs of incoming danger, the very instant the tape was in the man vanished. In silence, Anko began watching the tape.

Oh, it started out well enough. Ryu had arrived at the tower and took out his pair of scrolls, opening them simultaneously. A surprised examiner had congratulated Ryu, and awkwardly asked the arrogant Genin what had motivated him to do so well. Ryu smiled and answered.

"I heard you have jacuzzi's here and since I haven't had a good soak in a long time, I wanted to get here as soon as possible." Ryu turned to look at the camera and gave a small wink.

Idly, Sandaime Hokage sat at his desk, looking forward to the Chuunin exam finals when he had heard the loudest shout of feminine rage he remembered since the day his student Jiraiya had finally seen his other student Tsunade in the nude. A series of loud crashes followed, as well as several screams of pain. After a few seconds, Sarutobi could have sworn he had heard Kakashi remarking "Remember, disable the beast! We need all the Shinobi we can get!"

He sighed.

"Maybe I need to have a little 'talk' with Ryu regarding the abuse of my ninja."

While this was going on, Team 7 was figuring out their own best way to obtain an earth scroll for themselves. They had all agreed that they would only use Sanjutsu in an extreme emergency; that being said, they had decided to conceal their Chakra signatures and get to the tower on foot during the daytime while using the shadows to their advantage to stay out of sight. After about six hours, they would take a small rest and wait until night; Naruto would then scout the area and after finding a suitable team, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura would disable whatever team they had found and quickly grab their scroll.

Team 7 had found it odd that they no longer felt the presence of the team from Otogakure, but decided that they were probably just far away by then.

It was already reaching midday, and Naruto had suggested they rest. His teammates agreed, and soon they came across a small cave to use for shelter. They went in, and while his teammates unpacked their supplies, Naruto took out a few blank scrolls and his ink brush, beginning to work on something.

Finally, night fell and Team 7 began to make their move as Naruto reported back from his scouting. Quickly and silently, the three spread out in a flanking position, each moving every few seconds or so as they moved forward.

The three then came across a group of Cloud ninja, and the Chakra sense revealed that they weren't really anything special in case of trouble. Naruto glanced at Sasuke, then at Sakura intently. Both nodded, signaling that they were ready, and their leader signaled them to go.

It was over almost instantly; Sakura apparently had been learning how to use Senbon needles, as one from her position plunged into her target's neck, disabling the nin but not killing him. At the same time, Sasuke had grabbed his opponent into a hold and clasped his hand over the boy's mouth; he gathered a small amount of Chakra to his fingertips and performed a nerve pinch which quickly knocked the boy out. Naruto had probably gone with the simplest method of all, as he grabbed the girl of their team and force fed her a sleeping draught. Naruto gave thumbs up to his teammates, who looked oddly pleased with their success. They each searched one of the nin and to Team 7's relief, one of the Cloud nins did have an Earth scroll.

Still keeping to the ground and it's shadows, it took Team 7 almost eight hours to get to the tower. While Sasuke and Sakura weren't happy about this idea at first, they realized how useful sticking to the shadows was after they spotted almost a dozen teams in the treetops that could have ambushed them. Just as dawn was about to break, Team 7 made it to the tower, breathing collective sighs of relief.

A certain snake Sannin was PISSED, but we'll get to him later.

Finally at the entrance to the tower, Team 7 was puzzled as to what they were supposed to do with the scrolls. As they began to smoke, Sasuke yelled out.

"Naruto, Sakura, open them!"

Looking at Sasuke in confusion, his teammates nonetheless decided to go with this plan of action, simultaneously opening and throwing down both scrolls to the floor. A large amount of smoke erupted, and out of the shadows of this steam came…

"TATSU-SENSEI!"

Naruto yelled in joy as the form of his smiling sensei, Muhi Tatsu came to greet them.

"Hey there Little One. Hello to you too, Sasuke, Sakura-chan." Tatsu greeted.

"Tatsu-san!" Sakura exclaimed, surprise in her voice. "I thought you weren't a ninja!"

Tatsu grinned. "I'm not. I just thought it might be a pleasant surprise for Little One over there if I came to see his final exams. It took some doing, but Hokage-sama wasn't too hard to persuade."

Naruto smiled but then frowned. "Tatsu-sensei… I thought I told you NOT to call me 'Little One'."

Tatsu just smirked. Sasuke remained silent, in awe. If it weren't for his Chakra sense ability, he would have dismissed this man as weak. The sense said otherwise though, as this 'Tatsu' had more Chakra than even Kakashi-sensei.

Tatsu clapped his hands together. "So, congratulations on passing the second exam kids. Hokage-sama has asked that I relay a message to you." He pointed to the wall behind him. Trying to piece it together, Sakura began to read it out loud.

"If you have 'blank' then run through the fields seeking strength. If you have 'blank' than look towards the sky for enlightenment. These are the attributes necessary for 'something' 'something'. What does that mean?" Sakura asked.

"Well, since I think you guys have to learn this on your own, I'll just give a hint here." Tatsu said in sadistic fashion. "Two of the words have to do with your scrolls."

Sasuke and Sakura both looked equally confused. After a few seconds of thinking, a light seemed to go off in Naruto's head.

"Oh! I've got it! 'If you have Heaven, then go through the fields seeking strength. If you possess Earth, then look towards the skies for enlightenment. These are the attributes of Konoha Chuunin!" Naruto said triumphantly.

Tatsu gave his pupil a hand of applause. "Great job kid! I knew I didn't teach you for nothing!"

Sakura gave an 'Oh!' as if comprehension had suddenly dawned, but Sasuke was still confused and asked for a simpler explanation.

"Basically Sasuke, the Earth is meant to be the body and Heaven is meant to mean the mind. What the quote explains is something Tatsu-sensei drilled in me every day during his training; 'To master the body, one must also master the mind. To master the mind, one must also master the body."

"That's right, and you have the bruises to prove it." Tatsu chuckled. "Now come on. You guys have about four days before the next exam starts, and some of your friends are eager to see you."

As the exhausted Genin trudged through to the tower's living area, there were still some questions they wanted to know.

"Hey, Tatsu-sensei, do you know if any other teams made it yet?" Naruto asked.

Tatsu put a finger to his chin in contemplation. "Hmmm. Well, let's see… I know that the team from Sand has made it through, as well as teams from Mist and Cloud. A team from Leaf I didn't recognize is here; your friends in Team Eight have come in recently and I believe that Ryu kid made it."

"Team 10 hasn't made it yet?" Sasuke asked.

"Not to my knowledge." Tatsu replied.

Trudging up a long flight of stairs, Sakura asked an even more important question. (At least, to her.)

"Neh, Tatsu-sama?" she asked.

Tatsu stiffened. Only two people used the –sama suffix with him. The first kind he had waiting for him back home. The other kind ALWAYS wanted something from him.

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Do you have any more Elven Fizz?"

Tatsu face-faulted and then gave a deep laugh. Reaching into his jacket, the white-haired enigma took out a bottle of the valuable drink and with a squeal of delight, Sakura leapt into Tatsu, making them both crash into a nearby wall.

Naruto laughed so hard that he began pounding the floor he couldn't contain himself; Sasuke tried to conceal his own laughs, but a series of snorts could be heard coming from him as well.

Before this was going on, the aforementioned Team Ten was having a bit of trouble.

They had come across a meeting of two other teams, one from Waterfall and the other was the team from Mist on which Tri-Edge was a part of. When Shikamaru suggested that they hide, he was surprised when not only Chouji, but Ino also quickly agreed with him. Peering out of the clump of bushes that they were hiding in, they observed the conflict that was about to start.

Tri-Edge's two teammates looked a little anxious, but stayed in their places by his side; the strange twin-blade user's lone visible eye swerved from side to side, slightly unnerving. Tri-Edge then nodded to both of his teammates and they all sprang into action.

Ryoko, the blonde girl with the huge battleaxe proved that she had indeed mastered her weapon, as in seconds she cleaved the Genin in front of her in half, mere seconds after starting.

Haseo tossed a handful of shuriken which served to distract his opponent and made the nin dodge to the right. Unfortunately for the Waterfall nin, Haseo had seemingly pulled a massive square broadsword out of nowhere, swung it towards him like a baseball bat, and with a sickening crack that broke at least three ribs, the hapless nin crashed into a boulder, becoming further injured.

Tri-Edge however, used the most frightening attack. The Waterfall leader tried forming a set of seals, but became pierced by Tri-Edge's stare, his body freezing up in terror. With a subtle gesture of raising his hand, the leader slowly rose into the air and his body stayed floating. Tri-Edge's other hand then gained a bracelet of pure Chakra around itself and after the bracelet became perfectly shaped, a spear of Chakra sped forth into the Waterfall nin's body. A soundless scream was emitted from the ninja, as in seconds, the nin's body had the life literally torn out of it, with only a skeleton remaining in clothes.

Searching the Waterfall team's bodies, Team Mist was successful in finding a scroll and they silently sped off towards the tower.

Realizing they were finally safe, Team Ten grew nauseated. The scroll could wait for a little while…

A day or so earlier, Team Gai had decided to split up in order to scout the area. While Lee was off playing with squirrels and TenTen searched for a last name, Neji took his duties seriously, doing a bit of brooding in the process. A sudden attack of shuriken to his right distracted him enough from this so that his brooding was put on hold. Neji activated his Byakugan and searched for the source.

It turned out that the wild looking Cloud nin that Sasuke has noticed earlier in the exam was heading right his way with a sadistic smirk on his face. Jumping and swinging, the Kumo-nin landed right in front of him.

"Hyuuga Neji… I wish to fight you." The Kumo-nin said simply.

Neji got into the typical Jyuuken stance and smirked. "Very well. However you should be warned… it is your fate to lose this fight, Mr.?"

"The name's Raiden. Kumo no Raiden. And when I win, I'm going to show you that there's no such thing as fate." Raiden replied, with determination in his eyes.

Raiden began by throwing punches and kicks left and right that seemed surprisingly sloppy, and which Neji dodged easily. Smirking, Neji went on the offense, just as Raiden finished a series of hand seals and put his fingers to his temples.

Now the tables had turned. Raiden was now dodging the Jyuuken as if it was nothing, and Neji's Byakugan revealed that his Chakra was being applied to no parts of Raiden's body save his brain. Evidently, the Kumo-nin had been holding back.

This was readily apparent as Neji was suddenly forced on the defensive; Raiden landed several blows that left bruises, wounds and teeth broken, finally finishing with a chop to the back of the neck.

"I know about the Hyuuga history with the Cloud Neji-san. Personally I think it's a load of bull what Sinobi Gasir tried at the time myself. When I become Raikage, I'll try to see to it that nothing like that happens again."

Neji was confused. "Why did you fight me then?"

Raiden smirked. "Just to test myself."

With no sign of taking Neji's scroll, Raiden sped off, presumably to meet with his teammates. In his wake, he left a changed Neji, both in body (especially the teeth) and in mind.

Let's get back to what happened after Team 7 met old Tatsu, shall we?

It had been a good few days off for Team 7. Even Naruto had decided that they could do with a little rest, and the three were currently pooling the tower's resources by patronizing the Jacuzzi that Ryu had mentioned earlier. Somehow, it turned out that the 'jacuzzi' was in fact an indoor hot spring. Sasuke and Sakura immediately thought they were dreaming, as such a thing would normally be deemed impossible. Naruto just gave a little sigh, mumbling that 'Tatsu-sensei has done it again'. When they asked what this meant, Naruto apologized.

"I sort of can't give that information out."

"Naruto, we're your teammates! Can't you trust us with that sort of thing?" Sakura asked with a hint of sadness.

Naruto shook his head. "It's not that I don't want to Sakura-chan, it's that Tatsu-sensei forbade me from giving out that sort of information to ANYONE! The next time he comes, you'll have to ask him."

Sakura frowned, and then smiled. "All right then, I will."

Unfortunately, Tatsu was nowhere to be found. This didn't stop the other three from sighing in bliss (Sakura was over on the women's side of course.) as the hot water soothed their aching muscles, and from having a good time.

Eventually, it got to the point where almost everyone who had made it to the final exam was in the hot spring at the same time. While it didn't get crowded, there was a certain 'incident' that took place… and we shan't mention that incident unless it is through Omake form. Let's just say that it was a fairly common staple in any anime that involves hot springs in some form. You should be able to guess.

Then, the day had finally come. Anko had ordered all of the remaining Genin to congregate into the tower's arena. Sasuke looked around and noticed that for the most part, his observations were dead on. The teams they had noticed from Mist, Cloud and even the one from Grass had made it. Surprisingly, a sound team HAD made it… but not the one that had drawn attention to themselves in the first exam. Their fellow rookies were also there, as well as Rock Lee's team and Kabuto's team. As expected, Muhi Ryu had also passed.

"Congratulations everyone, on making it to the final exam! Before we begin, Hokage-sama will explain the purpose behind the Chuunin exams for no particular reason."

"ANKO!" several voices chastised.

"Give me a break! That Ryu kid has driven me nuts over the past week and I'm a little on edge!" Anko spoke in defense.

"Are you ever not?" Kakashi whispered quietly. Anko could evidently hear him, because she sent another angry glare to the man. Again, it didn't work.

"Are my glares defective or something?"

Sandaime coughed loudly to get the attention away from Orochimaru's student.

Naruto paid no attention to the speech; the opening lines told him that Sandaime had already said this speech before, as it was copied word for word from one Naruto had read in a book. He looked up and noticed that not only was each team's Jounin instructor present, but also the instructors for the other country's teams, Anko, Ibiki, Sandaime and (to Naruto's immense surprise) Tatsu himself.

After a few minutes in which several Genin spoke up, someone interrupted.

"If I may Hokage-sama?"

A pale, sickly looking man had asked permission and Sarutobi nodded in acceptance.

"Good Afternoon. I am Gekkou Hayate, the examiner for the preliminary matches of the third exam."

The buzzing of the crowd told the fact that the Genin were not happy about this turn of events.

"Simply put, there are far too many of you here. A decent third exam, in which various leaders of Shinobi villages, Feudal lords, Merchants and potential customers demands the best of the best to show off their country's power. So, we have to narrow you down."

The Genin now understood the need, but that didn't mean they had to like it. Hayate continued.

"Matches shall be chosen randomly by this electronic board. If there is anyone who wishes to quit, please do so now."

Kabuto began to raise his hand, but a sadistic smile from Ryu made him hesitate. He looked towards the Oto 'Jounin Instructor' (who we all know if Orochimaru, it was pretty damned obvious!) and when the man gave a curt nod, he lowered it.

"No? All right then, however is last shall receive a bye and immediately go on to the third round. Now, shall we begin?"

When no one objected, Hayate began the selection. Each of the Genin became anxious, wondering if it might be their name up on that board. Finally, the suspense ended, and two names showed up on the board.

HYUUGA NEJI

VS.

KUMO NO RAIDEN

Neji rapidly paled. He knew he couldn't win this fight, as Raiden seemed to be barely trying the last time.

"Examiner… I… give up." Neji said in defeat from the balcony.

He teammates gaping at him, Neji turned away, disgusted at himself. Gai put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Hayate was momentarily confused, but shrugged it off. "Oookayy… next match then."

Once again, the electronic board took a few seconds to process, and once again, the fate of two was decided.

NARA SHIKAMARU

VS.

RYOKO

As both participants stepped down to the arena, only one thing could be heard.

"Mendokuse Onna…" (Troublesome woman…)

Tsuzuku..

A/N: Hey again everyone! Sorry about the long hiatus, but it's finals time again, and I spend most of my time working around here. The next chapter should be quicker though, as it's just another two weeks until winter break for me.

Regarding the extra characters, the thing is that the Chuunin prelims were probably my absolute favorite part in all of Naruto, as the huge variety of fighting styles and Ninja techniques were immensely interesting to me. So, rather than stick with canon, like most authors tend to do, I'm trying to differ the formula for variety.

For characters to look for, I'd say the most interesting of the fighters have yet to be shown. The Sound team isn't what you'd expect, the Grass team has particularly cool abilities, and Raiden is more similar to Ryu than you'd think.

So what match ups do you, the readers want? I'm afraid that some match-ups wouldn't be possible, for story purposes, (Ryu and Naruto aren't going to fight… yet.) almost anything goes here.

Oh, and Shikamaru fighting Ryoko is in the tradition of the manga itself, as Shikamaru always has to fight the aggressive women which he dislikes so much. (Kin, Temari, Tayuya, Ino… to a certain extent. Need I go on?)


	9. Prelims part 1

While Shikamaru was busy with the axe wielding girl known only as Ryoko, our hero Naruto and his ever helpful sensei were engaged in a silent conversation. At the same time, those who knew of the two and their mysterious nature closely tried to subtly hear something to better understand them.

"Who do you think will win this match sensei?" Naruto asked.

"The Nara boy for sure. I can sense that the girl doesn't have much of use other than that axe here, as she doesn't seem like one who would have a way to access water abilities outside of the water source. Enough of that though." Tatsu turned his head and shot his protégé a glance. "You didn't answer my question yet. Do you think your Nakama are ready to know yet?"

Naruto's mouth thinned. "Isn't that up to you sensei?"

Tatsu shook his head. "Well yes, but I do value my number one student's opinion considering that he knows his Nakama best."(1)

Naruto gave a small smile. "Well… yes Tatsu-sensei, I do think they're ready. Except…"

"Except what?"

"If Sasuke goes back to the way he was… don't try to coddle him. I like him and I don't want him to forsake everyone for the sake of revenge." Naruto whispered sadly.

Tatsu just gave a silent nod. A noise grabbed the attention of both and it turned out that Tatsu's prediction had proved correct. Shikamaru was lazily standing next to the examiner as the Mist girl and her massive axe lay on the arena floor. The examiner checked the vitals of the girl and stood up.

"Shousha… Nara Shikamaru."

Shikamaru's teammates congratulated him, and the shadow user was surprised when Naruto gave a thumbs up and his mentor also gave him a smile. Within moments, the electronic matchup began again. After a few seconds, it stopped yet again.

Asahikage Hino(2)

VS.

Haruno Sakura

Sakura was surprised to be going so early, but jumped off in determination. She noticed that her opponent was one of the single Grass team that had made it and began thinking up strategies. Her opponent, a young brunette lazily leapt forth also. The examiner, as always, stepped forward and began the match.

Hino started the match by forming handseals and to the astonishment of almost everyone save the Jounin, he began turning into a living version of a plant. The vines engulfed Sakura and her arms, seemingly making sure that she wouldn't be able to use any jutsu. As she became tangled, Sakura noticed that her strength was beginning to decrease. Obviously, the vines drained one of their strength, much like a plant absorbing sunlight. Sakura could think of only one way out of this. She smiled in defeat as she had been hoping to save this idea for the finals.

"Nothing else to it though." She mused out loud. Hino's eyebrow raised, thinking the girl was obviously crazy.

Sakura gathered up a small amount of Chakra and tilted her head back. She smirked. Sakura's head rocketed forward.

"Sakura Chakra Ryu: Kane!"(3) she shouted.

To everyone's surprise but Sasuke's, a solidified form of Chakra burst forth from Sakura's forehead and smashed into Hino's skull. Disoriented, his vines began to loosen around her legs and she gave a bigger smile.

"Chakra Ryu: Stamp!"

This time, more solid Chakra blasted out of her sole into Hino's face, making an indentation after it had finished. Hino's vines had already broken off, but Sakura was still not finished. She held an arm, pulling it back and made it shoot forward in a punch that brought forth even more of the solid Chakra.

"Chakra Ryu: Pistol!"

This blow landed in Hino's gut and he coughed up a bit of blood. Now the onlookers could see that the Chakra was going BACK IN to Sakura's system, almost as if the solid Chakra was made of rubber.(4)

Finally, Sakura placed both arms behind herself and seemed to explode with power as she brought them forth.

"Chakra Ryu: BAZOOKA!"

Twin jets of solid Chakra burst from her arms and blasted into Hino's gut. This not only had the effect of permanently knocking him unconscious, but also made him go straight through the wall behind him.

Nearly everyone in the stadium had their jaws dropping or eyes popping except Tatsu, who was looking at the girl with starry eyes. The examiner quickly ran outside and confirmed what everyone already knew.

"Shousha…Haruno Sakura."

Naruto turned his eyes to Sasuke. "Where in the hell did she learn how to do that?"

Sasuke snorted. "From one of those damn mangas that you leave all over the place. She thought that Monkey D. Luffy's fighting style could work with her own and it just went from there."

The Jounin who were listening in could barely hold their shock. Not only had a first time Genin Kunoichi managed to defeat the best of Grass's Genin, she had also managed to prove that she could come up with incredible abilities on her own and the girl had learned to do this from a MANGA?

Tatsu turned to his adopted son (Naruto) and gave a nod.

"She's in."

Naruto turned to Tatsu with wide eyes as Sakura climbed up to congratulations from her friends and sensei.

"You've only seen her fight once and you've already decided?"

"Yeah. I thought you'd be happy I said yes, baka-deshi." (5)

"Well, yeah, but…"

"No buts! Now quiet, the next person is about to fight."

AKIMICHI CHOUJI

VS

TEMARI

Both fighters silently made it down from the wide balcony, Temari with an arrogant smirk and Chouji with no expression striding with confidence. The thumbs up he got from Shikamaru and the smile from Naruto had helped significantly in this regard.

The examiner started the match and both fighters just stared. After a minute or so, Temari just taunted Chouji to bring it on.

"As you wish." Chouji said, reminding himself that this girl would most likely use wind attacks and he would only get a split second to implement his strategy. "But you will soon see that your arrogance is a weakness."

Chouji quickly threw a pair of smoke bombs to the ground and obscured Temari's vision for a second. Unseen to almost everyone in the crowd, Chouji formed a quick seal.

Temari snorted in annoyance and used her fan in order to blow the smoke apart. It dissipated, and Chouji was revealed to be seen looking somewhat worse for wear with a few cuts. Temari once again raised her fan and sent cutting gusts of wind forward, Chouji just barely managing to dodge them in time with a leap. She snorted again.

"Looks like you're all talk… Buta-kun." (6) She raised her fan again, but this time she felt her arm in extreme pain and dropped the massive fan to the ground. Temari then felt her body being dragged into the ground and felt the cold metal of a kunai being pressed up against her neck. She turned her head slightly and saw that Chouji was pressing the kunai with a Bushin right next to his lowered body.

"Give up now Temari-san or forfeit your life."

Temari's eyes widened and she then sighed in defeat. "All right. I… give up."

Temari felt slightly surprised as Chouji helped her out of the hole she had been dragged into. As Temari wearily went up the stairs, Chouji handed her the battle fan and she accepted it with a smile.

"Shousha…Akimichi Chouji."

Naruto, now standing near Shikamaru, Ino and Asuma nodded with a smile. "I'm rather impressed. I thought Chouji was going to use his new techniques, but maybe some of your influence has rubbed off on him Shikamaru."

Ino looked at him, confused. "But, Naruto-sensei, what exactly did Chouji do?"

Naruto smirked. "Why don't you field this one Shikamaru? It's too TROUBLESOME for me."

Shikamaru gave the student teacher a small glare of annoyance and sighed. "Basically Ino, Chouji used the smoke bombs as a diversion so that the Sand nin would have to use a wind attack with that huge fan. While she was distracted, Chouji made a Bushin that would look as though it had already been hurt by the fan while the real Chouji was underground through Doton: Tsuchi Kiba no Jutsu. Then Chouji went up, disarmed her and disabled her all at once. You got that?" he said in annoyance again.

Naruto chuckled and noticed Sakura walking towards him. Shyly smiling at him, Sakura walked up closer with a fuming Ino to the side.

"So, how did I do Naruto-kun?" Sakura smiled. "I know that there wasn't much strategy involved but…"

Naruto waved his hand as if to say that it wasn't important. "That only really matters in the finals Sakura-chan. I think you did very well. So, if you're willing, I have a little prize for you."

Sakura's eyes widened thinking it might be more Elven Fizz. She nodded.

"Okay then. Close your eyes and you shall receive your prize Sakura-chan."

Trusting her friend, Sakura nodded again and closed her eyes. Within two seconds, she felt a pair of warm lips engulfing hers and as she opened her eyes, she could feel her face growing hot as Naruto gave her the same type of kiss that he had to Ino months before at the academy matches. After he had finished, Sakura was forced to sit down, her mind in a haze. Ino and Hinata had jealous looks on their faces, and Tenten and Temari looked somewhat envious. Naruto saw the jealous looks on the faces of his two female Nakama and called out to them.

"If you two do well in your matches, I'll congratulate you as well." Naruto said.

The two girls looked surprised for a minute, but afterward gained a look of determination that could not be missed.

Both of their Jounin instructors looked in exasperation. (7) It would have surprised Asuma and Kurenai that their thoughts were completely in unison at that moment.

_Ino I can see becoming motivated by that, but Hinata? They must have it bad for this guy!_

Soon, the girls were to gain their chance. The board once again made its decision.

HYUUGA HINATA

VS

KITEN

One of Raiden's teammates, a surly looking swordswoman, made it down the steps, with Hinata following just a few steps behind. The blonde girl sneered, thinking about avenging the Hidden Cloud against the Hyuuga who had so humiliated it nine years before. Hinata on the other hand, took a deep breath, exhaled and took a stance, revealing nothing in her expression.

"Hajime!" the examiner yelled.

Both girls formed a set of seals, though Hinata's seemed to have no visible effect. Kiten's on the other hand made her blade surge with electrical sparks as lightning raced through the sword's blade.

"Raikiri!" Kiten yelled.

Up in the stands, his Jounin peers looked as Kakashi growled at the girl. How dare they steal his one ORIGINAL jutsu!

With immense speed, Kiten went forward and delivered a horizontal slash… which missed. Growling in frustration, Kiten tried a vertical slash this time, and again missed. As she continued to try and slash Hinata, Kiten grew more and more frustrated as her attempts kept missing. Finally, Kiten put her all in one final strike aimed at Hinata's left arm. The speed of the strike made Kiten confident that she had won, but to her shock, Hinata raised her arm and caught the sword in her hand.

To the continuing shock of Kiten, her teammates and almost everyone else, the electricity seemed to vanish. Hinata gave a quick kick to Kiten's sword arm, with the sword dropping to the floor. Temporarily pained, Kiten was several seconds too late to notice Hinata crouching and leaping towards her midsection. Hinata planted her right palm onto the girl, with most expecting that she was using the Jyuuken that the Hyuuga clan were known for. That was not to be though.

The electricity from Kiten's sword seemed to have come back, surging through Hinata's arm and arcing forward. It engulfed Kiten, and the blonde was fried to a crisp by her own lightning.

Starting to feel as if he was in a dream world, the examiner went forward to examine the smoking Kumo-nin and even though he already knew the outcome, he still checked the blonde's vitals.

"Shousha…Hyuuga Hinata."

Hinata went out of her focus state, and happily went up the stairs, awaiting her 'reward'. In the meantime, three Jounin gave him a mock glare.

"Naruto… you're making us look bad here." Kakashi said in a not so threatening manner.

"Yeah, I don't remember our students ever being this good." Asuma added. "What did you do, take them to the Chamber of Time and Space or something?"(8)

Naruto chuckled. "I could have, but no. This was mostly their work, I just helped them figure out the mechanics. As for any of you looking bad, I doubt any of you could look bad as ninja, especially Kurenai-san over here."

Kurenai blushed a little. "Baka! I'm twelve years your senior! Don't go hitting on me!"

Naruto chuckled again. "Aa, gomen Kurenai-san! When you've got a father like mine, one is bound to inherit his flirting habits."

"Father?" the three Jounin chorused.

"He means me." Tatsu had come walking to their location and cuffed his son upside the head. "You didn't 'inherit' your flirting from me, Little One, I just taught you how it's done." He looked to the side. "And speaking of which, one of your girlfriends wants that 'reward' you promised her."

Naruto blushed in embarrassment. "Otousama! How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that!" he protested.

Tatsu smirked. "You can say it all you like, but it won't help. You'll always be my Little One."

Naruto sighed in exasperation. His expression brightened though, as he began a kiss with Hinata that was similar to his earlier one with Sakura. When he finished, he whispered into the now dazed and smiling Hinata.

"You'll get another one whenever you want."

Hinata almost died in happiness at that remark and was quickly helped by her sensei as she began to faint.

In the meantime, Tatsu had walked up and given his protégé a pat on the back, smiling. Naruto nodded, his mind still in a happy daze as well. After a few seconds, he shook his head to come back to himself and prodded Tatsu to get his attention.

"Well?"

"Well what kid?" Tatsu said in annoyance.

"Are Chouji and Hinata in or not yet?"

"Oh!" Tatsu put a finger under his chin, contemplating. "Yeah, I think so."

Naruto tackled his father in happiness. Tatsu groaned, and idly wondered why people kept tackling him today.

Naruto looked up after he had finished thanking his sensei, noticing that they had missed one of the matches. He asked Kiba what had happened.

"Huh? Oh, Naruto. Well, that kid Tri-Edge did something in his match with a kid from Sound and the next thing we see, the Sound kid looks like a corpse!" Kiba shivered.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Like he drained the life out of him or something?"

"Yeah! I've seen a lot of things, but never heard of a jutsu like that. It just seems… unnatural!" Kiba went on.

"That, and it doesn't make any sense." Naruto mused.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"A power like that would be classified as a Kekkei Genkai, and the Mist wiped out almost every person possessing a bloodline after the great war. The Kaguya, the Mizuho, and countless others. So you might be right about it being… unnatural Kiba." Naruto explained.

"So, what exactly did Hinata do earlier? I don't really get it. I mean, did she absorb the lightning that Kumo-nin used or something?"

Naruto smiled. "That's not my place to tell. Ask Hinata, she can tell you if she wants."

Tri-Edge had leapt back up to the balcony, saying nothing to either his teammates or sensei, and merely gave a stare with his one eye that seemed to pierce right to his soul. Naruto returned the stare with equal intensity and almost everyone in the room could feel the bloodlust he began to emanate but slowly stopped.

At the same time, the red-haired Sand-nin grinned psychotically and looked at both of them in a similar fashion to Tri-Edge. Muhi Ryu cockily grinned at the both of them. They were stunned out of this stalemate when the examiner coughed to put attention on the board.

YAMANAKA INO

VS

HASEO

Ino ran down the balcony in happiness, ready to win while the Mist kenjutsu user silently sneered at her enthusiasm. The examiner noticed that both kids were ready and began the match.

Haseo began the match by forming handseals. Curiously, Ino countered by taking out a packet of seeds. Haseo finished and shouted.

"Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu!"

A small mist began to envelop the stadium and Haseo cautiously and silently took out one of his swords, trying to be very silent. Ino just smirked and formed a handseal; from what Hinata could see with her Byakugan, Chakra was enhancing Ino's hearing as her eyes were closed. Her ears twitched, and Ino threw a few seeds at Haseo after forming a few seals.

In seconds, the mist disappeared, and it could be seen that thick vines were wrapped around Haseo's body. He continued to struggle, but the more he did, the thicker the vines seemed to become. Eventually Haseo collapsed, straight to the floor on his face.

"Looks like your 'Silent Mist' assassins aren't quite as silent as they think." Ino taunted.

Ino finished by jumping up and performing an axe kick onto the boys back. He screamed out in pain, then fell silent, unconscious.

Not really surprised anymore by the talent these Genin exhibited, the examiner cut the vines with a kunai and checked his vitals. Again, he rose up.

"Shousha… Yamanaka Ino."

Ino squealed with glee and began running up. Naruto groaned, wondering how his personal life had become so complicated. Tatsu seemed to know what he was thinking, and gave a smirk.

"It's like you said Naruto. You inherited a lot from me, even if we aren't of blood."

A/N: Chapter is finally done. Thanks for those who inquired as to the story's status. It makes me happy that there are people interested. Any comments or questions are appreciated.

Translations and notes:

Tatsu uses the word 'Nakama' which has a variety of meanings, but usually means 'friends who are like family'.

Hino's name is a pun, as both of his names are a form of the word sunlight. If he had gotten some, he might have won the match due to a special ability. Think plants and sunlight and you might get it.

Kane: Bell.

Yeah, Sakura's control is good enough that almost none of the Chakra she makes solid is wasted and most comes back. VERY precise control.

baka-deshi: basically, Tatsu is ribbing his son, calling him 'stupid apprentice'.

Buta: Pig. Temari is trying to make Chouji mad, but it doesn't work.

Picture an anime sweatdrop here.

The chamber in Dragonball that can have a person train for a year in a day. For those who you wondering, NO it is NOT called the Hyperbolic time chamber, that was just the bad translation Funimation screwed up in the dub. They've learned from their mistakes though, so I can forgive it.


	10. Unexpected ability! Ryu's sacrifice!

After a make-out session with Ino that left her with steam coming out of her ears, a somewhat embarrassed Naruto watched and waited for the time in which he would have to fight.

Sasuke was pit up against one of Yakushi Kabuto's teammates, a man by the name of Akadou Yoroi. Sasuke didn't even need to try hard at all in that fight, and defeated the man in three blows. It seemed as if his training was paying off after all, and Naruto could see the beginnings of a smile on the young Uchiha's face.

The next two matches weren't really anything special; Kumo no Raiden's other teammate fought against one of the two remaining sound-nins, a guitarist by the name of Axel. While initially Axel used his 'phat beats'(as he called them) to try and cast a Genjutsu, the stubborn Kumo-nin constantly dispelled it. Frustrated, Axel charged and smashed his guitar onto the head of the hapless lightning user and Axel was proclaimed the winner of the match.

The second Grass ninja then fought against Axel's teammate, a vocalist by the name of Luna; neither was particularly talented, and Naruto wasn't that surprised when the referee declared a double knockout in the match.

With that, the only nins left were Naruto, the one female Grass-nin, Rock Lee, Shino, Kiba, the two sand-nins, TenTen, Kabuto and his teammate and Muhi Ryu. It was possible that he would get lucky and get a bye to the next round, but that seemed unlikely. Finally, the electronic board determined the next match-up.

MUHI RYU

VS

SABAKU NO GAARA

Many in the stands either gasped or raised a brow at the match-up. At the very least, the Jounin on duty and Team 8 both knew that Gaara was no ordinary Genin. At the same time, they knew Ryu had to be fairly good, as he had demonstrated earlier in the exam. Naruto stared down at both in trepidation, knowing that both possessed an insane amount of power and was hoping he could get some answers in this fight. Unbeknownst to the young student-teacher, his sensei Tatsu was leaning against a nearby wall; the man's eyes were closed and his arms were crossed. A bead of sweat could be seen coming down Tatsu's forehead, and he looked to be in deep concentration.

Muhi Ryu gave a start, but after closing his eyes for a few seconds, seemed to regain himself. However, to Anko and Sakura's eyes(among others), he did not seem as the same Muhi Ryu that had confidently defeated the Sound-ninja so easily in the first exam. Now he seemed to possess an aura of confidence, but without the cockiness displayed in the second exam. He was now completely and utterly serious and slowly stepped down to his fate.

To his credit, Gaara did not smirk psychotically as his sand teleported him down to the arena floor. The examiner gulped, slightly afraid at the damage the two could cause and quickly began the match.

Gaara naturally began the match by launching his ever-present sand at the statuesque Ryu. When Ryu didn't dodge, many assumed that his previous ability was nothing more than a fluke. However, their doubts were assuaged when the sand went through Ryu.

"Lee, what's up with that guy?" Neji asked his teammate.

Lee, how had been concentrating heavily on the match answered, "His speed… is about a little higher than I am without weights. That was pure speed!"

Lee's analysis was soon proven correct, as the observers could now see an 'invisible' presence give staggering blows to Gaara; one knocked the wind out of him, another made cracks appear near his jaw and still another made a trickle of blood come down from Gaara's forehead.

Gaara was now beginning to get worked up. His breathing became heavy and veins pulsed from his eyeballs as his sand began pooling near his feet.

The two other Suna-nin began to become worried.

_This is bad! Is it possible that this Ryu guy will make Gaara unleash IT?_

At the same time, Ryu began to generate a strange purple aura that looked like a living flame as it twisted and writhed. Ryu then took off the pair of glasses that made him look so much like Naruto's own mentor; after they had hit the floor, Ryu's foot came down and smashed them. Ryu then whispered something that none save the examiner and Gaara himself could hear it. As he said this, he smiled.

"It has been a good life."

His aura now flaring into the stratosphere, Ryu shot forward like a rocket and engulfed Gaara in a clinch, both bodies locking up. As Gaara looked into the gaze of Ryu, he froze up. Ryu's aura was slowly seeping into the red-haired Suna-nin, inch by inch.

Both boys stayed prone for what seemed like hours; after fifteen minutes though, Gaara was released and he tiredly got to his feet. To the shock of his siblings, it looked as though tears were coming down his face as Gaara stood.

Ryu had gotten to his feet as well, but to the continuing shock of those observing, blood was coming out of Ryu at almost every opening, from his nose to his ears. Wheezing, Ryu gave a smile and fell backwards, eventually ceasing to breathe.

The examiner was quite confused, but strode forward. He checked Ryu's pulse and shook his head.

"As the contestant Muhi Ryu is now dead, the winner is Gaara."

Although most of the observers had barely known Ryu, they all paid their respects silently.

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After the moment of silence, the examiner Hayate coughed for attention and began the selection process again.

TENTEN

VS

TSURUGI MISUMI

Tenten and Kabuto's teammate made it down to the arena. The match wasn't particularly anything special; Misumi tried using his joint less limbs to fight in Taijutsu, but against a long-range specialist like Tenten he was nothing. She soon made the hapless ninja into a pincushion and a cheerful Tenten walked up to the praise of her teammates as well as the other Konoha rookies. She was very surprised, but pleased; Tenten blushed as Naruto went up to her and introduced himself, kissing her hand. Tatsu frowned and bopped him on the head.

"You've got enough girls at the moment after you! ... Oh, yeah, and it's your turn Naruto."

It was as Tatsu said.

MUHI NARUTO

VS

ROCK LEE

"YOSH! Gai-sensei, I will now prove my nindo against perhaps this year's strongest rookie!" Lee enthusiastically shouted.

"Wait Lee! Before you go… let me give you some advice." Gai said.

"Yes sensei? What is it?" Lee asked, whipping out a pen and notepad.

"There are two things you should be aware of. The first is that Muhi Naruto has the ability to make tornadoes form from his hands!"

THAT statement had many people's eyes bugging out or scoffing in disbelief.

"The second… those glasses of his are suspicious!"

Those who could hear that part of the statement groaned, save for Tatsu and his student.

_How did that guy know about the shades?_ The thought passed through both heads in unison.

Lee bounded his way off the railing, ready for anything. Naruto was about to do the same, before his father's hand clasped his back.

"Naruto… just remember, I have faith in you son."

Naruto's face gave a beaming smile. "Thanks dad."

Shouts of "Good luck Naruto-sensei!", "I know you'll win Naruto!" and "There's no way you can lose to someone who has a fashion sense that bad!" all came from the observers. Naruto was heartened by the encouragement of his friends and leapt down, now ready.

Lee's smile was a little strained from the 'fashion' comment, but his eyes shone with determination.

"Muhi Naruto VS Rock Lee… Hajime!"

As Lee charged at the student teacher, Naruto in turn took a stance. Lee tried a kick, but his leg was grabbed by Naruto. Lee tried a punch, but his fist was blocked by a palm. Naruto took advantage of the opening and tried throwing Lee by the foot. The throw was unsuccessful, as Lee flipped himself upright and landed safely.

This game of counter to counter continued for ten minutes straight; Tatsu began getting bored by the expression on his face and he let out a sigh.

"Maybe I ought to just tell the kid its okay for him to use the other stuff."

Just as Tatsu was about to do this exact thing, Gai beat him to it as Lee leapt backwards, panting.

"Lee! Take them off!" Gai demanded in his 'nice-guy' pose.

Lee looked apprehensive. "Demo Gai-sensei! I thought that was only to be done when protecting many important people!"

"Come on! Just do it!"

Lee laughed in happiness, and began to take off his 'leg-warmers'. Underneath were leg weights, and Lee began to take them off.

Tatsu's eyes narrowed. "Naruto! Go ahead and use the other half of what I taught you and stop going easy on him! In this circumstance, it's okay!"

Naruto gave a start. "Tatsu-sensei… you're serious? I'm pretty sure I can beat him!"

Tatsu's lips thinned. "Do you know how much weight that kid is holding and is about to drop?"

Naruto gave a questioning look to his sensei and began looking at the now rapidly descending weights. Even he was surprised at the small crater that said weights made.

"He's wearing at least half a ton!" Tatsu finished.

Nearly all of the ninja gave Tatsu a look of disbelief; Naruto audibly gulped and took a short breath.

"Okay Tatsu-sensei. I'll do what I need to do in order to win this match!"

Naruto took off his own set of small bracers and resumed his stance.

"IKE! LEE!" Gai commanded.

"OSSU!" Lee shouted.

Lee shot forward like a bullet and a second later, a fist was scant centimeters away from Naruto's face. Lee then tried a kick, with the foot even closer, though still barely missing. As he continued his desperate dodging, Naruto soon began to get tired, sweat coming down his brow. However, he managed to endure until Lee also began to get somewhat winded and began spiraling around Naruto at an incredible speed.

Without warning, Naruto was launched into the air by a devastating kick, and with a burst of speed, Lee was able to come up from behind. Using Chakra, the 'bandages' around Lee's arms unfurled themselves and began wrapping themselves around Naruto. Naruto struggled, but it was of no use. Lee began spinning rapidly and while they span they also descended.

_This is definitely going to hurt._

"OMOTE RENGE!"

With a large boom, Lee slammed Naruto into the floor and a cloud of dust flew up. When the smoke cleared, they could see Naruto lying in the crater made by Lee's attack. Lee stood to the side, breathing heavily and shaking a bit. He smiled as if triumphant.

The examiner looked about to call the match, but to his immense surprise, could see Naruto slowly getting up.

His shades now cracked, Naruto tossed them aside as he shakily got up. Lee's eyes bugged out, but he began again to take a stance, tired as he was from opening a Celestial Gate.

Naruto then clasped his hands together, as if in a prayer, and slowly gave a deep breath. When his exhale was finished, immense power began to flow through him.

"LIMITER ONE: RELEASE!"

It was as if a dam had broken. The same kind of purple aura that Ryu had sprouted before flowed from Naruto like a river, and its power impressed even the now disguised Orochimaru. While this happened, Naruto's wounds from the earlier attack began to close up, and his breathing began to slow. Finally, the student-teacher's eyes opened and Lee couldn't help but stare into them.

A few seconds later, it was all over, as for no apparent reason, Lee let out a terrible scream and fell unconscious. Naruto again put his hands in the prayer position, and after a few seconds, the great aura subsided.

The examiner came forward and checked Lee over. He couldn't believe it himself, but the result was clear.

"Shousha…Muhi Naruto."

Naruto's friends began to cheer him on loudly, pleased with their friend's success. Tatsu gave him a small hug and began ruffling his hair. The student-teacher and his adoptive father began to bicker yet again, but they did it with smiles on their faces.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next match was Shino against the nameless female Grass-nin. While this went on, Kakashi engaged Sasuke in conversation.

"Ne, Sasuke, would you mind letting me indulge in a small question?" The Copy-nin wondered.

"That depends on the question. Go ahead." Sasuke answered in an apathetic fashion.

"Have you activated your Sharingan yet?"

One of Sasuke's eyes rose at the question. "Yes." He answered simply.

"Well, why haven't I ever seen you use it?"

Sasuke smirked. "Simply because I try not to use the Sharingan unless absolutely necessary. It may be a powerful tool, but it comes with far too many disadvantages for me to use it all the time."

Kakashi was momentarily taken aback. "What do you mean?"

Sasuke let out a small sigh. "Naruto has been teaching Sakura and myself far more than jutsu and chakra control, sensei. After seeing what we managed to do with the Sanjutsu, Naruto managed to get through to me in regards to one particular subject."

Wondering where this was going, Kakashi motioned for Sasuke to continue.

"I realized that if mere Genin, straight out of the academy could defeat an A-ranked criminal, than with a few years a powerful team would have a much bigger chance of defeating Itachi than I would on my own. I know what you're going to say," Sasuke interrupted, as he saw the Copy-nin begin to speak. "Notice I didn't say kill, I just said defeat. Naruto and Sakura agree with me that it is imperative that Itachi be brought to justice for his crimes, and have pledged their help in that regard."

Kakashi smiled at the relationship that had fostered within his team, but then began to look confused.

"Wait… that still doesn't explain what you said about the Sharingan."

Sasuke nodded. "As you might know, the three rookie teams that made it out of the academy successfully all are taught and train with Naruto. It is through this and research that he's able to hear certain things that civilians and lower level Shinobi don't normally know. After training with Hinata, we learned one of the Hyuuga clan's deepest secrets."

Kakashi's eye widened. "What secret was that?"

Sasuke smirked again. "A secret that you should know quite well sensei, considering that you possess one of the vaunted dojutsu bloodlines; namely that if they are used too often, dojutsu begin to wear away the eyes and the bloodline eventually becomes useless. That's one of the biggest reasons that none of the Uchiha clan, Hyuuga clan or ancestors of the two never became Hokage save for Madara. There's a reason you keep that right eye covered, eh, Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked sheepish. "That, and mainly because I thought it would look creepy to people."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Well, that problem was one of the biggest reasons why I've almost never used the eye. That, and when I was sparring with Lee, I noticed that unless my basic skills were up to snuff, the eye would be useless in Taijutsu combat against someone who could outpace it."

Kakashi smiled again. "So, you're trying to become more all-rounded. I'm quite proud of your growth, Sasuke."

Sasuke blushed. "Baka! Don't say such things!"

Kakashi just gave a small chuckle and went back to reading the new bestseller, Icha Icha Beaver Paradise. (Read A/N for explanation)

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

The next two matches had proceeded smoothly. Shino had defeated the Grass-nin fairly easily; her basic Shinobi skills were lacking, but she had caught him by surprise; the girl was a skilled alchemist in training and used various poisons, gasses and even explosives to fight with. Unfortunately, thanks to his kikai bugs, as well as the extra training he had gained with Naruto's help, Shino was able to overcome all of these obstacles. The poisons were easily siphoned out of his body with the help of said kikai, the gasses were fairly useless for the same reason, and the explosives were easily recognized after one trained with a budding seal master in training. In fact, Kiba commented that he was fairly disappointed that Shino hadn't gotten to show off his original ability, while Ino looked pensively at the fallen Grass girl.

Kiba also had little to no difficulty the final preliminary match. Against the puppet-user Kankuro, Kiba's sense training had paid off immensely. Poor Kankuro wasn't aware that Kiba could easily tell who was a puppet and who was fake, and was caught by surprise as Kiba and Akamaru made a combination claw slice which formed a cross-shaped gash on Kankuro's torso. The move was appropriately named 'X-Strike'.

Finally, to his own surprise, Yakushi Kabuto had gotten a bye to the third round. With the preliminaries finished, Hayate left the area and Sandaime came down. He asked for all of the preliminary winners to come forward.

"Now then," Sarutobi said "Congratulations on making it to the third exam! You shall now be given one months' reprieve to prepare for the final exam, where you may or may not become Chuunin. There will be a tournament style exhibition as you fight your peers using whatever information you gather and whatever abilities you have at your disposal. It may be that all of you could become Chuunin, or none of you could become Chuunin. However, if you win your matches and perform well, you will have a slightly higher chance than if you did not. Victory in matches this year especially will go a long way towards becoming a Chuunin."

Shikamaru raised his hand. "What exactly do you mean that it's possible that some of us or none of us could become Chuunin?"

Sarutobi nodded at the young Nara's question. "In this exam, you shall be graded based on your overall skills, not just your combat prowess. So it is possible that even if you lose your first match, there is still a chance you can become a Chuunin."

Sakura had a different question. "Hokage-sama, what do you mean by 'the matches this year especially will go a long way towards becoming a Chuunin'?"

Sarutobi gave a smile. "I will refer that question to an acquaintance of mine who was just so good as to help Konoha in regards to these exams. Tatsu-san, might you come down?"

"Sure, you bet!" Tatsu exclaimed gleefully. Meanwhile, Naruto was holding his head in his hands, constantly muttering 'No, no, no no…"

Tatsu strode confidently towards the Sandaime, as the Jounin in the room all looked at their Hokage in shock, wondering if he had finally succumbed to senility, which was why he invited total strangers to speak.

Tatsu ignored this, and faced the fifteen remaining candidates with a cheerful smile. "Again, congratulations kiddies! I'm Muhi Tatsu, and I'll be a co-examiner for the third exam!"

Several pairs of eyes landed on Tatsu's soon-becoming-patricidal son, who shrunk even more into himself.

"Now then, as a special favor to Sandaime, and for my own personal amusement, I have decided to change the third exam this year somewhat." Tatsu gave a sadistic smirk at this, and even Tri-Edge started to shiver. "Normally, the third exam would take place in a stadium with little to no frills, flat, dry and basically boring. To alleviate this problem, and give our ninja candidates a little extra challenge, we've decided to spruce things up a bit."

Ignoring Naruto, who was now banging his head against a wall, Tatsu continued. "The stadium is being given a complete makeover as we speak, and will soon have the ability to change itself constantly into conditions that can either help or hurt a Shinobi. For example, it has a fairly good climate now, but when it's finished, the stadium can replicate a desert, swamp, mountain, or even volcanic environment. As you might imagine, this could give the intelligent Shinobi an advantage in stealth and Ninjutsu, among other things. In addition, every one of these random areas will be filled with traps designed by yours truly."

Chuckling at the rather panicked expressions on the faces of nearly every candidate, Tatsu opened his mouth again and many eyes began to widen in trepidation. "Finally, every match gives both Shinobi the option of 'boasting'. This is a random challenge which can either help or hurt whomever tries it, but if you do manage to boast and win… well, it's almost certain that you would become a Chuunin due to the massive point bonus."

Sasuke raised his arm. "What sort of challenges are involved in the… 'boasting'?"

Tatsu nodded. "They can be anything, but mainly they are limits on what a ninja can do in that particular match. For example, one boast could be not being able to use Genjutsu in any way. Another could be only using Taijutsu. If you do boast and disobey the rules, you're automatically disqualified. Now then!" Tatsu clapped his hands. "Let's assign partners!"

Hayate came forward with a box that had been filled with paper notes with numbers written on them. Each Shinobi managed to take one, and soon the matchups were decided.

UCHIHA SASUKE VS AXEL

MUHI NARUTO VS TRI-EDGE

HARUNO SAKURA VS TENTEN

YAMANAKA INO VS INUZUKA KIBA

ABURAME SHINO VS NARA SHIKAMARU

AKIMICHI CHOUJI VS HYUUGA HINATA

YAKUSHI KABUTO VS SABAKU NO GAARA

"Well, that's that! Good luck everyone!" Tatsu exclaimed.

Naruto's eyes narrowed, intent on 'talking' with his sensei.

A/N: Well, another chapter finished! It's been quite a while I know, but that's what happens when you start college again! I hope this chapter was liked, and again, any comments/questions are appreciated as long as they consist of CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Flames will be flushed down the crapper, smoking in agony.

Kakashi's book? Well, again, the meaning is really perverted. Ask your friends, or just ask me and I'll be happy to explain. Explaining here would get this story's rating bumped to a level I don't want…

As a special treat, here's a preview of an upcoming chapter. Enjoy!

Both Sandaime and Orochimaru looked amazed at Tatsu; Orochimaru because it should have been impossible to elude his guard, and Sandaime because he assumed that Tatsu had gone back on his stance not to help Konoha's ninja force directly. Tatsu still stood with a sneer on his face, looking towards the Hokage said to be Konoha's greatest. He glanced sharply in the direction of the two other than himself who weren't undead.

"Listen up! I don't care about the reason or anything at all to do with the fight between you two. As far as I'm concerned Orochimaru-_sama_," Tatsu spat condescendingly, "You and your two dolls can do what you want, just so long as you don't interfere with my punishment to blondie over here." Tatsu cracked his knuckles.

Orochimaru looked as if he was about to protest, but after a brief flare of power from the man he decided that he might as well take what he could get. After all, it wasn't as if the man was impeding his invasion. Sandaime however, looked incredibly shocked.

"Tatsu-san! What are you thinking? Yondaime is our greatest hero! Why would you wish to fight him?"

Tatsu again glanced sharply at the old man. "If you can't figure it out, than you don't deserve an explanation from me!"

Seeing as how the resurrected blonde had yet to begin, Tatsu jumped forward with a punch to the face and several onlookers (such as the ANBU) winced as they could hear the sound of Yondaime's nose breaking. Yondaime collapsed, and at the same time, Tatsu did something that he almost never did in front of others; he took his ever-present shades off.

When they could look into his eyes, those watching were startled by Tatsu's appearance. The white-haired man had deep blue eyes like his adopted son, but they were now radiating power that could be felt everywhere. More troubling however, was the look of cold fury that graced Tatsu's face. As the Yondaime got up, Tatsu's look promised no mercy.

"Now Yondaime-sama, it is time that you paid for your sins."


	11. A fun filler chapter? You're joking!

Now that Tatsu's speech had finished, the room was beginning to disperse. Most of the remaining Genin were going off to rest and then train in some cases, the only exception being Kabuto's. However, Naruto and his friends had no such thoughts in mind. The blonde strode determined towards his mentor, with his friends coming to support him.

"Tatsu-sensei…" Naruto growled. "I want some answers. I think I'm entitled."

To their surprise, Tatsu just nodded absentmindedly. "You're right, and I'm sorry. You'll get your answers… but we have to do it someplace more private."

Taken aback by Tatsu's acceptance, the Genin could do nothing but blindly follow him. They walked up to the balcony, and to even Naruto's surprise, Mitarashi Anko followed his teacher. Tatsu lead them into an empty room and looked from side to side, as if checking for intruders. After a few seconds he seemed satisfied and the Genin were forced to sit on various crates, tables and old chairs. Tatsu himself settled on the floor, a peaceful look coming onto his face.

"So kid, tell me… what's on your mind?" Tatsu asked.

"Well… first I want to know… who exactly WAS Ryu? He had our last name, and it seemed as if he knew how to use abilities that only you and I can use, Tatsu-sensei!" Naruto asked. "I think that as a member of the Muhi clan, I have a right to know!"

As Tatsu sighed, the 'rookie nine' all perked up. They had been wondering the same thing; and what was this about powers?

"That's a complicated answer Naruto, but the short version is that Ryu was meant to be a spy of sorts." He replied.

Gasps went out. "What do you mean a spy, Tatsu-san? Are you and Naruto trying to do something to the village?" Kiba growled.

Tatsu chuckled mirthlessly. "No. Little one over here would gut me alive if I did something to usurp his dream; and even if I was planning something, I wouldn't need a spy."

Tatsu absentmindedly rubbed an arm. "No, Ryu was meant to be a spy who wouldn't arouse suspicion to certain parties; these certain parties are trying to infiltrate the village and are planning on an invasion at the very Chuunin exam itself."

"What? Which parties are these?" Shino's brow furrowed.

"Someone that most of you should know fairly well. The former legendary Sannin, Orochimaru."

THAT got quite a reaction out of the whole crowd, and Tatsu chuckled mischievously, deciding not to wait for them to calm down.

"Orochimaru is the leader of the newly established Otogakure no Sato, and though he supposedly broke off his ties with Konoha years ago, he has come here in order to fulfill his ambition."

"What ambition is that, Tatsu-sensei?" Naruto asked in trepidation.

Tatsu shook his head. "The idiot thinks that if he learns every single jutsu in the world, he'll be able to become a green god… or something. I don't understand it myself, but in order to do so, he's trying to obtain the Sharingan eye through Sasuke here."

Sasuke began to look alarmed. "Wouldn't it take too long to learn every jutsu, even with the Sharingan? Not that I'm willing, mind you."

Tatsu nodded. "Somehow, he's been able to figure out a method to make himself immortal. I guess he figures that he can learn every jutsu in the world by staying forever young. To do so, he's come here to this Chuunin exam and hoped of destroying his former home and obtaining the last true Uchiha. You've felt him, haven't you Anko-chan?"

Sasuke's visage darkened at the implication of Itachi, while Anko nodded somberly.

"Yes. He gave me a seal long ago and it flares up in pain whenever he is nearby."

While the Genin went silent, Tatsu began looking pensive. Naruto broke the silence.

"You still didn't answer my question sensei! What about Ryu?"

"I was getting to that." Tatsu said irritated. "Because I knew that the Snake Sannin was after your team Little One, I wanted to make sure that I could employ protective measures. Because I wanted to make sure that you came out safe, and because the old man was worried too, I created Ryu out of my DNA. He was to act as my eyes and ears during this exam, and wouldn't arouse too much suspicion to the Oto-nin."

"So… hold on a minute," Naruto thought. "You mean to tell me, that Ryu was a CLONE of you?"

"A younger clone, but yes, that's essentially it." Tatsu confirmed.

Naruto's friends were confused at what was going on, but they tried to go with it.

"Wait. Why did you not try to save him though? I mean, he was literally your flesh and blood!" Naruto asked in shock.

Tatsu sighed again. "For two reasons: the first of which is that Ryu had an… affliction that is common to clones, called ICD."

"ICD?"

"Internal Clone Disorder. It's a disease that almost all clones are afflicted with after being close to their genetic donors; the symptoms include paranoia, aggression and later, madness."

Anko looked surprised. "Is THAT why he was acting so weird?"

Tatsu nodded. "Sure. Why else would he act so strange?"

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Several dozen parallel multiverses away, a young author to be sneezed next to his computer.

At the same time, an azure haired albino by the name of Ayanami Rei did the same.

Finally, several thousand troops in a far off sector of the Galactic Republic also did the same.

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"So, what was the other reason you had Ryu die, sensei?" Naruto asked with eyes narrowed.

Tatsu cleared his throat. "That Gaara kid… you sensed it too right? How it was like he had two different selves in one?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "Ummm….no Tatsu-sensei, I didn't."

Tatsu snorted. "Well, it looks like I'm going to have to up your training then. That aside, this second presence inside Gaara was driving him mad. Unfortunately, Ryu's powers weren't strong enough to quell this presence without using ever fiber of his being. I can guess, but I'm not sure, that Ryu wanted his life to have meaning by helping another."

The Genin all went silent at this, in awe at Ryu's selflessness.

"Does that answer your questions?" Tatsu asked derisively.

"Yeah… it does for now. Thank you, sensei."

Tatsu's features softened. "Come on, let's walk and talk."

Tatsu now lead them out of the stadium and back towards the village. As he did, a running commentary was started.

"Now I know that some of you want to ask me this, so I'll answer beforehand to save time. Sorry, but none of you, even Naruto, may receive training from me for your exams."

Many disappointed sighs went up, faces pouted and Sasuke and Shino merely frowned.

"However," Tatsu raised a hand up. "That doesn't mean that you cannot use my training facilities!"

Excited murmuring broke out, and Naruto looked excitedly towards his teacher.

"Tatsu-sensei… do you mean… we're going to show them…?"

Tatsu smiled. "Yes indeed kid. We're taking your friends to our home."

Tatsu almost immediately frowned. "But not today. Today, even though I'm not your teacher, I'd like all of you to get some rest and enjoy yourselves. Tomorrow is going to be quite a day, and I'd prefer that all of you be prepared. That is, unless you don't want to train at the place my little 'student-teacher' does most of the time?"

Heated denials were what met Tatsu, and the man just chuckled.

"All right then. Meet me in front of Konoha's north gate, tomorrow at 2 p.m. See you all later! Anko-chan, please come with me. Naruto, I'll meet you at home."

Naruto and his friends walked into the village, many of them realizing just how tired they were. Many yawned and began to set off towards home.

Little did they realize what awaited them the next day; Tatsu continued to walk with his female companion and settled into a small forest clearing.

"Now Anko-chan, let's see that seal of yours…"

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The next day, all of the rookie nine had come bright and relatively early. Each of them had packed at least a weeks worth of clothes, as well as many of their ninja tools and a few soldier pills. They figured that Tatsu's facilities would be able to cover food and lodging, and also imagined that they would be busy enough training to do much else.

At about fifteen until two, Naruto showed up as usual reading his manga. None of them talked; they were either too anxious or nervous.

Finally, at two o'clock on the dot, a sheepish looking Muhi Tatsu came out of what seemed to be nowhere with a dreamy looking Mitarashi Anko draped over his back. Most of the Genin looked confused, but Naruto just sighed in exasperation.

"Bringing home women again, eh sensei?"

Tatsu frowned. "No, Anko-chan asked if she could come. She's quite grateful for removing that nasty seal from her shoulder; I'm glad for her company, but she's not like someone you could just pick up at the corner of fifth and main."

Naruto and Tatsu just stared at each other in exasperation, then met each other's eyes and laughed. Tatsu cleared his throat.

"Well, I have to say, it is good to see you all!" The man said heartily. "Now I have to warn you. What you see may shock and amaze you, but trust me, everything is real."

Even more confused at that statement, the Genin stared at Tatsu with apprehension. Tatsu sighed.

"I guess the best way I can explain how our home works to you is to show you. Watch closely!"

With a smile and a wink, Tatsu reached into his pockets and took out a piece of chalk. To the astonishment of Naruto's friends, Tatsu began to draw a door in the middle of the path. Making a rectangle, he finished with a small knob, and surprisingly, a door instantly appeared. Tatsu turned the knob, and amazingly, the door lead INTO another place. Chuckling to himself, Tatsu shepherded them in.

Vaguely hearing Tatsu close the door behind him, the Genin gasped in astonishment as they beheld the scene before them.

The room they entered looked wealthier than any damiyo's mansion; a grand hall awaited them, there were dozens of doors, hundreds of various types of soft chairs, a grand chandelier at least thirty feet wide at the top of the room and a solitary column that stood in the center, with what looked like a closed stone eye in it's own center.

Wordlessly, Tatsu walked up to the column, of which they eye had suddenly opened. Tatsu took off his shades and a beam of light emerged from the eye, going straight into Tatsu's own. Suddenly, they heard a voice.

"OCCULAR VERIFICATION COMPLETE. PLEASE RECITE YOUR PASSWORD."

They heard Tatsu curse for a second, and then sigh.

"Espers are sex gods."

"PASSWORD CONFIRMED. WELCOME HOME MASTER TATSU."

Tatsu grumbled thanks. A beam of light was cast down and engulfed the party and after two seconds, they were gone.

Five seconds later, eight severely disoriented ninja in training, one not disoriented and a self-proclaimed wacko were placed in what would look to us (the readers) as an amazingly ornate hotel lobby. Said wacko wasted no time and walked up to the desk, ringing the bell on top of it. Almost immediately, a nondescript yet sharply dressed man came up. He smiled in delight at who he saw.

"Ah! Master Tatsu, young Master Naruto! You've finally come home! And… did you bring guests? How lovely!"

Tatsu chuckled. "Yes indeed Garibaldi, these are the eight children who are the first new 'keyed guests' in a long time. Now come on up everyone, Garibaldi will give you your room keys. I made them especially for you."

Walking up with trepidation, the eight were each asked for their names. Nervously, they all gave their names and Garibaldi cheerfully gave them all shiny looking keys. Confused, they looked to Tatsu for explanation.

"Those keys are all keyed to your specific rooms. I still think you all deserve a bit more rest, so, just enjoy yourselves!" Tatsu said cheerfully. "Naruto will give you the tour. I have some business, so I'll see all of you later."

And with that, Tatsu left even more mysteriously than he had entered.

All nine Genin blinked for a moment. Naruto only realized later what his father had said.

"SENSEI!"

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Naruto had grumbled a bit, but it took little time for him to begin the tour of Tatsu's home.

The initial question had been where exactly they were. The answer was that they were in a 'place within a place' as Naruto had described it, a pocket dimension which lead exclusively to Tatsu's home. Naruto said that Tatsu's home was officially known as Havenwood. Unofficially, it was known as 'Downtown', though Naruto confessed that he didn't know why.

This raised even more questions as to how exactly Tatsu had gotten the place; if he had created it, the man must have been hideously powerful. However, that theory was shot down when Naruto had told them that his mentor had won the ever expanding home as a result of a fixed card game with various deities and higher dimensional beings.

"But Naruto-kun…" Hinata said after hearing this somewhat shocking bit of news. "How could Tatsu-san have gotten into such a game at all? Tatsu-san isn't a god himself, is he?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, sensei isn't, nor has he ever wanted to be a god. Sensei… he's been around for a VERY long time and he's had many adventures. Some of these adventures just happened to have him becoming friends with deities."

Hinata just stared, nonplussed, and Naruto took this to mean he could continue on with his tour.

"If I were to give you all a complete tour of Havenwood, we'd be here for more than a year, so I'll just show the important things, okay?"

They then proceeded to follow Naruto as close as they possibly could; with a statement like that, none of the Konoha nin wanted to risk being lost.

First, Naruto told them that because they weren't formally being trained by Tatsu himself, they were free to enter and exit the facility at their leisure. The key was… well, their keys! A drop of blood and a specific password that each of them would enter through voice was all that was needed and the keys would respond to the rookie nine and ONLY them.

With that little formality out of the way, Naruto first showed them what he called the 'Danger Room'. In reality, it was a large amount of rooms all together, with a balcony overhead for observers.

"This," Naruto began "Is where Tatsu-sensei and I do most of our training. The Danger Room is unique in that not only is it a great, wide open space to safely practice techniques and practice, but it also comes with a wide variety of opponents, specifically catered for difficulty level, fighting style and overall difficulty."

"Sparring partners?" Sasuke wondered.

"Yeah. I don't know how exactly to explain it, but this room was built in order to maximize training ability. What that means essentially, is that sensei wanted to make sure that when someone was training here, they wouldn't be fighting motionless dummies. They would be fighting people that would be real… but not."

Sakura looked pensive. "You mean that Tatsu-san figured out a way to duplicate the fighting abilities of real people, Naruto-kun? That they fight in here, just like the real thing?"

Naruto clapped in delight. "Very good Sakura-chan! That's exactly it! Sensei has collected data from every fighter he's ever been interested in, and their abilities have been duplicated almost to the point of near perfection. This will allow someone to get plenty of experience, especially when they fight increasingly more difficult opponents."

Eyes widening, many of Naruto's friends began to see the value of such a device.

"Now, there are a few things that you should be warned about." Naruto said in a serious tone. "If you want to use this device, it will ever increasingly adapt to your fighting level; there is NO beating the simulator, no matter how strong you are. If you get better, your opponent changes accordingly. Also, your opponents will constantly change, so there's no 'getting used' to a fighting style; this device was intended to force you to adapt, and quickly! Finally," Naruto sighed. "The Danger Room can also be used to simulate stealth missions, assassination and other things you may encounter, so there's no telling what levels you can get to with it. However… BE CAREFUL!" Naruto's eyes softened. "This device… it can't hurt someone… but it can make you feel like you're dying."

Seeing the seriousness on the young student-teacher's face, the Genin felt obligated to nod. Somewhat somberly, Naruto started the tour up again.

Tatsu's protégé cheered up at the next room. A room both he and his teacher considered very important was the self-proclaimed 'Shrine to Aquarius'; why it was called this was evident, as the entire room was nothing but water and platforms within the pools of water. There were pools, saunas, jacuzzi's, showers, onsen, bathtubs, and even five water slides! There was also an area off to the side where at least two dozen deck chairs sat to the side along with pile upon pile of fluffy towels; the effect of this room was made even more amazing when they saw a clear blue sky through a clear glass ceiling.

"Sensei and I come here whenever we need to relax. Water is quite soothing, especially when we can make it warm at anytime within the shrine. Oh, and the onsen is quite lovely, if I do say so myself."

Naruto grinned in a cheeky fashion, but his friends were simply glad he was feeling better. At the same time, several of them were wondering if it would be possible to lounge in the shrine all day, with several bottles of Elven Fizz to the side…

Naruto then proceeded to lead them through an enormous amount of doors until finally they came across a place that looked as though it had been waiting just for them.

An enormous pub awaited them, although it looked like Tatsu had fused a hotel ballroom along with it, giving it a somewhat regal, yet cozy feeling.

"This is sensei's personal watering hole, which he calls 'The Happy Dragon'. It's part bar, part showroom, and has a drink selection big enough to make you consider an all liquid diet! Hey Moe! How about you take our orders!" Naruto shouted this to a somewhat grubby looking barman.

"Okay. What'll ya have?" the barman asked.

Several of the ninja froze up, not knowing in the slightest what to order. Ino bravely stepped forward though.

"Would you happen to have any Elven Fizz?" she asked with trepidation.

'Moe' gave a wheezing chuckle, and with a flourish, a bottle of the blue drink was set down in front of her. Ino smiled in delight.

"Thank you. How much do I owe you?"

'Moe' shook his head. "Nothing. Tatsu-sama owns this bar, and he pays me well, so I'm happy to serve guests whenever they come in. It's been such a long time since the master had guests…" Moe sighed wistfully.

Now over their nervousness, the others placed their orders as well. Most of them ordered Elven Fizz, but Sasuke, who had never had the drink, merely asked for something that wasn't sweet. The barman smirked and handed over a bottle of a steaming hot substance. Sasuke took it with some trepidation, but bravely chugged down a glass quickly. Sasuke choked for a second and then blushed as steam began coming out of his ears. Naruto glared slightly at the barman, who just laughed.

"Ogden's old Firewhiskey! Some of the '94 vintage if I remember. Good stuff, isn't it kid?"

Now that the steam had stopped, Sasuke was seen licking his lips, a pensive look on his face. He then shrugged.

"Not bad."

The bartender just laughed harder at this. Naruto just sighed.

"Give me the usual Moe."

The barman just nodded and reached up above. He set a mug full of a frothing yellow liquid in front of the boy and Naruto accepted it happily. He flipped a coin with his thumb, aiming it at the barman. The barman accepted the coin happily.

"Thanks kid, it's always nice to get something new for the collection. Master Tatsu gives me new ones all the time, but it's nice to get a souvenir from an actual traveler nowadays."

Naruto just nodded, happily gulping down his drink.

"Ah, Butterbeer. Nothing like it in Konoha; are you all ready now? Uh… hello?"

Naruto slapped his forehead in exasperation. The bottles of Elven Fizz were all empty, and a group that looked as if they had just recently tried a certain crystal drug had replaced his friends

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Thankfully, the Elven Fizz had worn off slightly in about ten minutes and the tour continued.

"Finally, we come to the last part of the tour. Your rooms!" Naruto shouted with glee.

At this proclamation, several of his friends let out a startled gasp, the faces of others widened their eyes and a select few only raised their eyebrows.

"N-Naruto-kun… you're serious?!" Hinata said, a barely visible smile gracing her face. "Tatsu-san is giving us our own guest rooms in your home?"

Naruto gave an even wider smile and shook his head. "No, 'tousan is giving you all PERMANENT rooms here."

This gave way to an even larger amount of surprise. "But, Naruto man, why would Tatsu-san do something like that for us?" Kiba asked doubtfully.

Naruto gave a sigh at this. "It's because… a long time ago, Tatsu-sensei was part of a group of friends, a lot like us. All of them… they were outcasts. They had no place to call home, and one of his greatest dreams was to make a place where anyone could go when they were having problems; a place you could go when life was getting you down."

A silence ensued. Though it went unspoken, a sense of awe could be felt at the man who was Naruto's teacher, and a desire to know more about him.

Naruto continued with his tour, and let his friends know that their rooms had been designed by both Tatsu and himself, but they could be changed at any time to whatever the recipient desired. Although the ninja were wary at first, especially seeing how eccentric Tatsu had seemed, when they saw their rooms those worries flew away.

Shikamaru's room was relatively simple, but it had almost everything he needed. An enormous bed was situated in the center, as soft and comfortable as if he were actually on a cloud; an ornate game table that could be changed to play almost any board game, including Shogi was surrounded by two comfortable armchairs and a fireplace that had been installed near the foot of the bed. The best part, however, was a remote controlled skylight that opened up to a sky filled with white, fluffy clouds. Needless to say, Shikamaru had surprised them all by actually hugging his friend.

Shino's room was relatively barren, other than a similar bed to Shikamaru's, as well as a direct door to the Entomology preserve, in which insect species that even Shino had never heard of were ripe for the study and cultivation. The best part, however, was that his very room was an ideal breeding ground for his Kikai bugs, and was so silent that Shino could feel his resonance with his insects increase almost tenfold. Though it may have been a trick of the light, some of the young ninja could have sworn that a tear came down the Aburame's face.

Kiba and Akamaru's room wasn't actually a room… but they both loved it anyway. Instead of a traditional room, the two were given a tract of forested land which was filled with plants, animals and grass to roam around in freely. Especially nice was the fact that regardless of whether they hunted or not, Akamaru would be given his choice of meat every day. The duo just stared in awe, eyes wide.

"I think that's the first time I've seen him speechless." Hinata commented.

Chouji's room wasn't quite as ornate as the previous three, but he loved it all the same, thanks in no small part to the fact that it not only lead right to the kitchens, but was filled with posters that depicted heavy, muscular men, handsome and strong who ate an absolute TON of meat.

Sasuke's room in particular didn't feature much in the way of frills, but he loved it all the same. In addition to the bed, his room lead right to the simulator and had a bookshelf, filled with combat techniques and abilities. The centerpiece to this room and what essentially sealed the deal, was a set of pictures on his ceiling. The first was of Sasuke's mother, father, aunt and uncle; underneath the picture was a caption that read:

THEY WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU

The second picture was just as important. It was a group photograph of the entire 'rookie nine' along with Tatsu himself. The photo had been taken right after they had completed Team 7's first C-rank mission in an effort to try and boost their morale; a similar caption was under this photo as well:

YOU WILL NEVER BE ALONE

Although no tears were shown, Naruto could see that Sasuke had been suppressing a choked sob as he hugged the 'student-teacher'.

The rooms assigned to Ino, Sakura and Hinata weren't as impressive as some of the others, Naruto apologized, because he and Tatsu had thought that for the most part, they would rather make up the rooms themselves. However, each girl did receive at least one small surprise.

Sakura's room had a small pile of trivia books and quizzes, and she was left confused because Sakura had never mentioned her hobby to either Naruto or his teacher. It also had several shelves dedicated to techniques and knowledge that involved medicine, anatomy and energy manipulation of all kinds. The clincher for Sakura was a large desk next to the bed with an incredibly comfortable chair positioned right next to it. The desk was filled with paper, writing utensils and various other supplies and Sakura squealed in delight when she saw it.

Hinata was similarly surprised when she discovered that her room was similar to Sakura's, the difference being that instead of quiz books and writing utensils, Hinata's was given special treatment towards her own hobby, namely the art of flower pressing. A door in the room lead to one of Tatsu's many gardens, in which Hinata was free to take petals at her leisure, and use the included press and art supplies. Hinata was happy enough that she gave Naruto a chaste kiss, which left them both blushing.

Finally, Ino's room was similarly outfitted with a shelf filled with techniques and knowledge, a bed, a desk and the group photo which was found in every room. However, it also came with a surprise; there was a simple white envelope on the bed. When Ino opened it, it contained two items: the first was a Delinthium credit card, which was keyed to Tatsu's private account and would work in any store. When Ino managed to calm down from her happiness high, she noticed the other item inside… a free pass for a training session with Tatsu himself. This earned him a rather pleasing hug.

Naruto finally ended the tour by giving his friends back their keys and leading them all to a large yet comfortable sitting room. He motioned for them to sit down.

"So, that is essentially the tour. If you'd like to visit any of the other rooms, just ask your keys for a map and you should have everything you need. So, that being said, you can now do whatever you want. You can use your keys to go home, you can stay here and start training, you could relax a bit, and whatever you want really."

Teams eight and ten glanced at their teammates.

"If it's all the same to you, Naruto-kun, I think we should check in with Kurenai-sensei first." Hinata responded.

"Yeah, and despite how much I'd love to just stay here forever," Shikamaru grumbled "Ino and Chouji probably want to see Asuma-sensei first as well."

Naruto nodded. "Sasuke, Sakura, what about you both?"

"I think we should all see Kakashi first Naruto, and then go from there. I could bring him here, right?" Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, but you would have to identify him as a guest to the system. You'll know when it happens. Sakura?"

"I… I think I ought to let my mother know first Naruto. Otherwise, I'd love to get some training done here. There are more… perks after all."

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While Tatsu couldn't join them that night, he sent a note to assure his erstwhile son that his business was just taking a little longer than usual, and for them all to get some sleep.

The Genin had then spent the night at Tatsu's majestic and mysterious home, resting and marveling at the ever expanding space.

The next day, they had decided on their training arrangements. Sasuke had persuaded Kakashi to help train his team in Havenwood; although Kakashi was initially reluctant at first, the fact that SOMEHOW Tatsu's library contained signed copies of the entire Icha Icha series made sure that they had little trouble after that.

Although Sakura's mother had been reluctant to let her daughter stay with her 'boyfriend' for a month, when she had heard that there would be a chaperone in the form of Muhi Tatsu, she soon gave in. So, Sakura had decided to alternate her time between learning from Naruto and technique scrolls, working on self-made abilities that she thought would be useful and using the Danger Room.

Hinata, tired of how things were going for her at home, decided that she would alternate her time between working on her Genjutsu with Kurenai and taking advantage of Havenwood's facilities. Although Hinata didn't see as much of Kurenai as she would have liked, it was worth it to have such a useful training tool and two amazing teachers in the form of Naruto and his father.

Kiba and Shino likewise spent a little time with Kurenai, but most of the time they spent time in the Danger Room, working on their flaws and making themselves stronger in both body and mind. Both managed to create new jutsu.

Shikamaru, quite simply, never wanted to leave Havenwood. Unfortunately, he knew that he had troublesome responsibilities, and eventually came home. While most of his time was spent training with Asuma, Shikamaru reluctantly spent a few days in the Danger Room.

Chouji and Ino continued to work on their own abilities, again, using the Danger Room. However, Chouji continued working on his 'secret style' that had yet to be revealed, and Ino experimented more with the usage of plants as weapons; she had offered to help the girl from the grass train in exchange for information on how to make the various poisons, medicines, explosives and other substances that the girl had displayed in her fight against Shino. In the final week, she took up the offer for Tatsu's lesson… and let's just say she learned quite a lot.

As for Naruto… well, he was about to go and meet his sensei the very next day at the Hokage tower.

Striding in confidently, Naruto assumed that he would be here only to collect Tatsu and go back. Unfortunately, fate wasn't on his side that day.

Naruto opened the door to Sandaime's office, and found Sarutobi, Tatsu and a man he didn't know with spiky long hair glance at him. Tatsu gave a smirk.

"Hi there Little One. Meet your teacher for the month: Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin and writer of Icha Icha Paradise!"

Naruto gaped at Tatsu.

"You're joking, right?"

TSUZUKU!

Omake: 'Sakura's Perks'

… There are more… perks after all." Sakura said with a wicked smirk.

Sasuke looked confused. "What kind of 'Perks' would those be?"

Sakura glanced at Naruto, licking her lips in a predatory fashion. "Give it to me, Naruto."

Naruto began to sweat nervously. "Um, Sakura-chan, are you sure this is the best time?"

"YES!" she growled. "Now, give it to me!"

Naruto nodded and began to unzip one of his pants pockets. One of his hands went inside…

And an instant later, a bottle of Elven Fizz was snatched by Sakura, now holding and hugging it as if it were her baby.

Naruto sobbed. "Why oh why couldn't sensei just have given her Grape Crush?!"

Omake 2: Tatsu's 'what-if' machine

"…and so, this machine will tell you what would have happened if something different had happened in your life."

Muhi Tatsu had finished explaining how the device he had stolen from a senile old inventor worked. Naruto and his friends seemed interested, and said blonde went up to try.

"What would happen if I had never met Tatsu-sensei?"

(Imagine that the What-if machine is showing them the entire story of Naruto from start to finish, but in a shorter form.)

Seeing what he could have become, and how he could have been the ramen-loving idiot who had no idea of what it was like to be a real ninja, Naruto did the first thing that came into his head.

Sobbing, he hugged his mentor. Tatsu awkwardly patted him on the head.

Author's Notes-

Well, it's been a long time since I started Mind's Eye, and the story has grown quite a bit in popularity. Admittedly, it's been a bit longer than I thought it would take, but overall I'm very pleased at the response.

While most reviews I've gotten have been positive (and I'm quite surprised at that) there have been a few that I don't quite agree with.

First of all, to the people who think that Havenwood and what is associated with it are a bit too 'weird', well, you don't have to read the story. I'm just having fun here, and I created Tatsu and Havenwood a very long time ago; if you're thinking that the story is going to be all about random elements, don't. Those were just things I put in for fun, and to explain a little of Tatsu's origins and how he was able to meet Naruto. I created the place because I personally have always wanted a place like that, and I imagine that the various heroes and heroines we meet in fiction could have used a break from time to time but didn't have a set place to go. That's the whole purpose behind Havenwood. Tatsu winning the place in a card game was purely a joke; exactly how he won Havenwood will be important to future story elements. Please, no more comments about this.

To whoever criticized me for 'making assumptions' about Sasuke's elemental affinity, you are right and wrong. You are right in that it hasn't been confirmed that he has a fire affinity, but wrong in that you're telling me it's wrong to say that. We already know that Sasuke has a lightning affinity (how else could he have come up with Chidori Current?) and we know that the Uchiha clan is talented in fire jutsu, so I'm making an educated guess; and if you think that I'm going to make the Yondaime Naruto's father… than I guess you're the one making assumptions.

Also, to those who told me about elemental affinities, thanks for the help. That was actually constructive criticism and I'll make a retcon… of sorts. Nartuo in the story doesn't actually say which elements are strong against each other, so just consider the previous author notes irrelevant.

P.S. If anyone is willing to send art or omake for the story I'll gladly host them.

Thanks to everyone for the support.


	12. Tatsu on a mission? More Muhi Secrets!

Now dear readers, you may be wondering what went on behind the scenes during this particular training period. It wasn't all fun and games, as Muhi Tatsu and his apprentice had quite a bit of 'business' to take care of.

Almost the minute after the preliminary exams had ended and Tatsu had separated himself from his son and Mitarashi Anko, Sabaku no Gaara stood exactly in front of him, merely staring, unblinking. Tatsu looked unsurprised to see him, and merely crossed his arms.

"Yes, Gaara-san, may I help you?"

Gaara's eyes narrowed. "Why did you help me?"

Tatsu raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

Gaara gave a sneer. "Don't play coy with me, Muhi Tatsu! Your servant, Ryu, sacrificed himself in order to destroy the monster that lay within me! Now I contain its power, but…" Gaara faltered.

"You feel lost, is that it?" Tatsu asked.

Gaara's head raised in surprise. "Yes! Why did your servant do such a thing? Didn't he know that I live only to kill? That that is the only way to acknowledge that I am alive?"

Tatsu sighed. "I only ordered Ryu to contain the monster that was inside you so that it's life would slowly leech away and merge with you. His decision to destroy Shukaku entirely was his and his alone. And kid, let me tell you…"

Tatsu paused, as if remembering something long forgotten. "There's nothing to be felt in killing. The only time you truly feel alive is when you feel joy with others, trust me."

He turned to face Gaara, this time taking off his ever present sun glasses and presenting his golden colored eyes for the former Jinchuuriki to see. Gaara's eyes widened; at that moment, Tatsu looked positively ancient.

"You… you have the same eyes I do." Gaara breathed in wonder. Tatsu gave a nod.

"Yes. It's terrible isn't it? The pain of loneliness. Sometimes it's so bad you want to kill yourself, but you can't because something gets in the way. However…"

Gaara strained, listening intently.

"There's always a chance to get rid of that loneliness. It may take days, months, weeks, years or even centuries, but it is possible. That's what I learned after meeting my son."

"Your… son?"

Tatsu smiled, and it made him look incredibly young. "Yes, you might have heard of him. Muhi Naruto is my son."

Gaara's eyes widened again at this, and Tatsu took the moment to put his shades back on. After a few seconds, Gaara regained his composure.

"So, Tatsu-san… this merging, what exactly does it mean to me?"

Tatsu hummed pensively. "Well, I would say that at the moment, you have an absolutely amazing increase in your overall power, and all of the sand spirit's power is now combined with your own. In a nutshell, it means you get a crapload of extra energy to fight with, your body literally can be turned into pure sand whenever you want, you can sleep without fear, and Shukaku is destroyed forever."

Gaara took a few seconds to digest that. Tatsu was startled to see a tear come down the Suna-nin's face. He smiled.

"Go ahead and join your family Gaara. It's never too late to make a fresh start after all!"

Gaara gave an honest smile and nodded. He started to leave, but after a step or two stopped.

"Tatsu-san, there's one thing bothering me about your explanation… how could Ryu destroy Shukaku, when even the best of Shinobi have failed?"

Tatsu gave a sigh again.

"You know, I don't normally give away my secrets…but I'll give you a hint because I like ya. The reason Shinobi could never defeat the beast was that they always attacked it in the physical realm. There are other realms in which to fight, Gaara-san."

Tatsu started walking towards the Hokage tower, hands in his pockets. "Well, if that's all…Ja na, then, Gaara-san!" he said cheerfully.

If anyone else had been around and known about his circumstances, they would have been absolutely shocked to see Sabaku no Gaara with a gob smacked expression on his face. They would have been even more shocked to hear the words that came out of his mouth.

"Another realm? What the hell does that mean?"

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While I leave that to be debated amongst you readers, Tatsu had made it up to the Hokage tower, seeing unsurprisingly that Sarutobi had been waiting for him.

"Ah, Tatsu-san, I presume you're here to ask permission in regards to Naruto's training again? Making sure that we know that he hasn't left, is that right?"

Tatsu raised a brow.

"Sorry Hokage-sama, but you've got it wrong this time. Naruto's already learned everything I can teach him; he just isn't as strong as me because I have had a lot more practice using my kind of special powers."

"Indeed? That is good news then."

"Yeah, I guess. Still, I have no idea as to where I could find a teacher for him. He has the potential to become better than me, simply because he can use Ninjutsu as well. Do you have any ideas?" Tatsu asked.

Sarutobi almost started at the audacity of the man, but knew that Muhi Tatsu was at least somewhat entitled. He HAD provided them with quite a lot of useful information, put one of Anko's biggest personal demons to rest and had changed the third Chuunin exam enough so that every Kage save the Iwakage was coming to Konoha in curiosity.

Sarutobi hmmmed, fingers placed onto his chin.

"If you can find him, I would suggest Jiraiya. He was the teacher of Yondaime Hokage, and has always intended to teach his student's legacy."

Tatsu frowned, and then nodded. "That sounds fine. I think my son is entitled, considering what Yondaime and this village did to him."

Sandaime sighed. "You are of course, referring to the sealing of the Kyuubi?"

Surprisingly, Tatsu shook his head.

"No, it isn't just that. The truth behind my son's birth… Hokage-sama, do you have any clue as to how it happened?"

Sandaime took a long drag on his pipe. "Well, I do not know for sure, but if I were to guess, I would say that Naruto is Yondaime's only son."

Tatsu gave a startling laugh and continued laughing. What was odd though, was that this kind of laugh held no mirth associated with it.

"Sorry, but that's not quite correct, old man!" Tatsu sneered. "There's a reason why Little One calls me father and it isn't just because I adopted him."

Sandaime's eyes narrowed. "And why is that?"

Tatsu smiled in a way that seemed entirely out of place, giving him an almost sadistic look.

"Hi-Mit-Su-Desu-Ka!" ("That's a secret!")

Tatsu chuckled as the Hokage sighed in exasperation.

"I suppose then that it's still a futile effort to try and convince you to help us in the upcoming invasion from Sound and Sand?"

Tatsu's face lost all mirth, frowning. "Sorry, but no, I won't fight for you. I can certainly HELP you… but actually fighting? Again, sorry, but no deal. You brought Orochimaru upon yourself when you let him go, and have brought war because of it. I've already managed to placate a Jinchuuriki for you, and Naruto and his friends are growing by leaps and bounds, so I feel I've done quite a lot already just by helping them out."

Sarutobi sighed. "You have. However, I merely asked because it would be very helpful to have someone on my level in such a battle. You have proven yourself to me, Muhi Tatsu, and I respect you. Both as a fighter, and as a teacher. That is why I find it so confusing as to why you would be unwilling to help your protégé in this conflict." Sarutobi stated a question.

Surprisingly, Tatsu smiled. "Well, that's very nice to hear… but quite honestly Hokage-sama, I'm not just refusing here because I think you made the wrong decision (and I do) but because honestly… I'm tired."

"Tired?"

"Yes, tired of fighting. I imagine that a ninja's life is stressful by going through combat for about two or three decades if they survive; now imagine having to fight for more than a century. It would kind of wear on you, wouldn't it?"

The Hokage looked incredulously at the man.

"If there's nothing further, Hokage-sama?" Tatsu asked. He turned as if to leave, but the Hokage gave a slight cough, which stopped Tatsu.

"Actually Tatsu-san… since you say that you are unwilling to fight, I have another idea. How do you feel about a retrieval mission?"

Tatsu contemplated this. "I might be willing to do something like that. I have to admit, now that Naruto has finished his training and I don't have official permission to train his friends, I have been getting a little bored. What kind of retrieval mission would it be?"

Now smiling, Sarutobi brought out two personnel files from his desk. He handed them over and Tatsu began to browse their contents.

"Although you are not an official ninja Tatsu-kun, you would probably have more luck finding these people than we have. In times of need, Konoha has employed skilled mercenaries or missing-nin to perform missions, and seeing as how it will soon be a time of need, I think I should offer you a job."

"Well, I don't need the money, but even I can't just watch Anime and watch television all the time." Tatsu smirked. "So, correct me if I'm wrong in the details here. You want me to find and bring back these students of yours, Jiraiya and Tsunade of the Densetsu no Sannin, correct?"

Sandaime nodded. "Yes. Jiraiya should not be too difficult to find as he is supposed to be in the area anyway. Just tell him I wish for a meeting and he should come."

"And Tsunade?"

Sandaime sighed. "She will be somewhat more difficult to convince. Tsunade has been severely jaded towards the ninja life ever since two of her loved ones died and she couldn't do anything to save them. Needless to say, she's a shadow of the fierce woman I used to know."

Tatsu cleared his throat. "Well, that's all very interesting, but what I wanted to know is if these statistics about her body and age are correct. After all, it's hard for me to imagine how a fifty year old has such a great ra- OW!"

Tatsu was now nursing a lump on his head, a result of Sandaime throwing a paperweight at him due to his perverse remarks. After a moment, he gave a smile.

"Sure, I'll find them, you don't have to worry. See ya!"

With that, Muhi Tatsu wouldn't be seen again for another three weeks.

Surprisingly, only two of which would be spent traveling.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

(TIME SKIP! 3 weeks ahead!)

Muhi Naruto wondered if today would be the day. Tatsu-sensei had already been gone for three weeks and his mentor's absence was starting to make things hard for the young student teacher.

For the most part, Naruto had been busy training under Jiraiya's tutelage. However, since the boy had learned how to summon toads within three days, and the Rasengan within a week, Jiraiya had confessed that he would be busy soon with other ventures, specifically regarding the upcoming invasion, and there was little else that the young Muhi could learn specifically from him.

Another week had been spent perfecting jutsu techniques and learning new ones, as well as keeping in practice with regards to his Taijutsu and the Muhi clan's 'Kekkei Genkai'. Even with the Danger Room however, Naruto soon found himself becoming bored. His friends would occasionally ask for help, but most of the time they spent at Havenwood seemed to be in their own rooms or the Danger Room.

Because they were constantly seen in Naruto's company, Naruto eventually befriended his friend's other Jounin-sensei, namely Sarutobi Asuma and Yuuhi Kurenai. They had confronted him, wondering where exactly the kids they thought they knew so well had gotten jutsu that had never even been seen before and a motivation that usually was only seen in Chuunin at minimum.

Eventually, Naruto explained his teaching philosophy and it grew from there, especially when he challenged Kurenai to a Genjutsu only battle. While at first it was an even stalemate, Naruto was able to turn the tide when he again took off his ever present sun glasses. Asuma noticed this and asked for an explanation.

"Haven't you ever heard the saying 'eyes are the windows to the soul' Asuma-sensei?" Naurto asked blithely.

Of course that wasn't a real explanation, but it still left the two guessing. Kurenai had become somewhat insecure after being beaten in her specialty by a twelve-year old, but Naruto assured her that in terms of what they had been taught in terms of the ninja version of Genjutsu, Kurenai was light-years ahead of him. She was still unsettled though, and one day surprised Naruto.

"If you are willing… I would appreciate it if you could please teach me how to use Genjutsu such as that." Kurenai stated nervously.

Naruto gave a sheepish smile. "Um, Kurenai-sensei, I don't really have permission for that sort of thing. I've taught my friends in the arts of Ninjutsu sure, but the kind of power I use in Genjutsu is something that I need permission to teach."

Kurenai raised an eye. "And who exactly is it that I need to see in order to have you get this permission?"

"That would be me."

Muhi Tatsu had appeared almost out of nowhere, his appearance startling the Genjutsu mistress. Naruto however, was unaffected, all too used to Tatsu's frequent surprise appearances. He went up and gave his father a hug, glad to see him.

"Tatsu-sensei! Where have you been?"

"'I've been on a mission for that Hokage of yours. For the first time in a while, I had a challenge… and it was quite enjoyable."

Naruto pouted. "That doesn't really answer my question sensei."

Tatsu nodded. "No, it doesn't. So Kurenai-san," Tatsu hastily changed the subject "You said you wished to be tutored in the secrets of the Muhi clan illusions?"

Kurenai blinked once, than regained her composure. "Er, yes! Genjutsu has almost never failed me against an enemy but the ability that your son possesses is light years beyond mine."

Tatsu nodded again. "All right. What shall you offer in return?"

Kurenai's eyes widened. "In return?"

"Yes. The secrets of our clan are heavily guarded and quite powerful. They aren't a bloodline limit, but in addition to a blood oath, anyone who wishes to learn them must pay some form of tribute."

Kurenai contemplated this. On the one hand, Tatsu might demand something unreasonable, such as her hand in marriage. On the other hand, she had worked very hard to even get to Jounin as far as she had, and Kurenai wanted to make sure that she kept her skills sharp. The choice wasn't too difficult, just so long as the Muhi patriarch didn't demand anything out of line.

"I'm not sure what kind of tribute I could provide to you, Muhi-san, but maybe if you were to suggest something…?"

Tatsu put a finger to his chin in contemplation. "What do you think Naruto?"

Tatsu's son froze, unaccustomed to being put on the spot when not teaching. "Well, um, I don't really know sensei… maybe she would have to agree to become a member of the Muhi clan's special corps?"

Tatsu shrugged doubtfully. "I don't know kid. As the first member of the corps, I'm pretty sure you can attest to the difficulty of that training, and the price involved. I'm not sure that Kurenai-san would be up for such a thing."

Indignation started to well up in the young Jounin. "Oh, and I suppose that's because I'm just a Kunoichi?"

Calmly, both Naruto and Tatsu shook their heads in unison. "No. It's because becoming a member of the Muhi corps is not only a lifelong commitment, but the training involved is complete and utter hell."

Kurenai wasn't scared by this, but she still seemed apprehensive. "I don't know. If I did that, wouldn't I have to stop being a ninja?"

Again, Tatsu shook his head. "Actually, no. You would get the training first, and when you retired from the ninja life you would then start your missions with the Muhi corps."

"Wouldn't I be too old by then? The ninja that live through their careers typically retire around the age of thirty-five."

Sensei and student shared a knowing glance. "No, you wouldn't be too old. Sorry Kurenai-san, but you're going to have to trust us on this. Like I said before, the Muhi clan has rather powerful secrets, and some of those you would find out for yourself if you joined the corps."

Tatsu shrugged again. "It's up to you. If you're interested, see me after the Chuunin exam and I'll gladly oblige."

Kurenai nodded, relief gracing her features. "Thank you. Speaking of which, how are my students doing? I haven't had a chance to really see them what with everything that's been going on…"

Naruto gave a conspiratorial tap on the nose. "Personally, and this is just me mind you, I'd say that they're easily Chuunin level now. With a few more years of training, I'd also say that they'd be eligible for the Muhi Corps."

Kurenai thanked both of them as the two Muhi walked away.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

In the meantime, a quite aggravated and somewhat fierce looking female Sannin and her apprentice stood on one side of a room filled with tension. On the other side, for one reason or another, Sandaime Hokage and Jiraiya were smiling as if unaware of their possible impending doom.

"All right Sarutobi-sensei I came! Now what's so important that you had to send that glasses wearing weirdo to come and 'fetch' me?"

Shizune sighed, although it was hard to tell what at. Realizing that his former pupil was in no mood for games, Sandaime and Jiraiya's expressions soon turned serious.

"We have learned, Tsunade, that Orochimaru plans to invade Konoha as the head of the newly formed Otogakure no Sato with the help of Sunagakure."

Jiraiya stepped forward. "It would help our efforts tremendously if you were to fight alongside Sarutobi-sensei and myself, but knowing you, you wouldn't wish to make such a promise so easily. So, we only ask one thing of you Tsunade."

Calming down, Tsunade narrowed her eyes at her almost always perverted teammate. "And what would that be?"

"We simply wish for you to be open to a certain idea of ours. You yourself had vehemently tried to increase the amount of medic-nins and their training within Konoha did you not?" Sarutobi asked.

"You and I both know the results of that sensei. Why bring it up now?"

Sarutobi took a long drag of his pipe while Jiraiya remained uncharacteristically silent.

"There are great changes coming, which will affect not only Konoha but the world itself. I will not go into specifics, save that it is very possible that another great ninja war may break out. Because of this, and due to the fact that Konoha has recovered greatly from Kyuubi's attack, I have decided that now, more than ever, it is becoming increasingly important that we start the medic-nin program you petitioned for so many years ago."

Both Tsunade and her apprentice let out gasps at this proclamation. Sandaime went on, seemingly ignorning their surprise.

"To get this program started, I have found a number of talented ninja who are probably interested in studying under you and Shizune, as well as any others who are willing. My request to you is simple Tsunade. Simply watch these ninja and decide for yourself if you or Shizune are ready to teach apprentices."

Tsunade crossed her arms over her (admittedly) large chest, her lips forming a straight line. After a moment, she finally responded.

"All right Sarutobi-sensei, but for the moment, I'm only an observer! I still haven't decided as to whether or not I'll fight with you against Orochimaru, so don't expect any help!"

Jiraiya smirked. "That's just fine. Sensei and I don't need your help… flat-chest!"

Sarutobi was startled and pleased to note that Tsunade's eyes then began to ignite with a fire that he had thought all but forgotten. A cloud of debris soon arose, and loud yelps of pain could be heard as Tsunade proved once again that there is no such thing as a 'dominant' sex.

Off to the side, Shizune simply sighed again as she waited for her mistress to finish 'whack-a-ero'.

Unfortunately for her, Sarutobi and Konoha's property damage bill, it would take a while.

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

A week later, the big day had finally arrived. Ninja and nobles were pouring in from all parts of the country, and within only a few hours, the stadium was packed to overflowing. This was surprising, considering that in the week he had been back, Muhi Tatsu had made some 'modifications' to the arena.

The first of which was that the stadium now sat almost sixty thousand viewers comfortably; this went in hand with the fact that the stadium now had an enormous dome overhead which protected the attendees from both the weather and whatever 'disasters' arose during the fight. This included what seemed to be a completely transparent wall which separated the attendees from the fight and its dangers.

Another 'modification' which had both annoyed and delighted the Hokage had been Tatsu's insistence on 'commercializing' the event. What this meant was that not only were detailed programs available, but also banners, articles of clothing and even the dreaded giant foam finger, all in support of the audience's favorite fighter.

It was no surprise then that Sandaime was seen either covering his eyes with his hand in embarrassment non-stop or repeatedly taking aspirin in order to quell his rising head-ache. It didn't help that the Mizukage and Raikage constantly chuckled whenever they saw Konoha Genin, Chuunin, Jounin and even some of the ANBU guards sporting headbands or the dreaded foam fingers. Of course, they were quickly mollified when they discovered some of their own escorts doing the same thing, but for Tri-Edge and Raiden respectively. This made Tsunade and Jiraiya, who sat in the top box with their sensei, almost go into fits of laughter.

Also in a somewhat unorthodox move, Tatsu had insisted on having commentators for the spectacle and that he was to be one. Idly, he wondered if Tatsu had any more 'surprises' planned.

Still, nearly every major client in the Shinobi world had replied to the invitation, a practice almost never accomplished since the rule of Shodaime himself. Sandaime had to admit, despite his faults, Tatsu was a master showman. Said master showman cleared his throat, and almost instantly, the roaring crowd began to hush.

"This is certainly a lot nicer than commentating in America". Tatsu mumbled to himself. Clearing his throat, Tatsu began his spiel.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you to the latest in a long series of biannual Chuunin examinations! I'm Muhi Tatsu, and I shall be the examiner for the third and final test! Do our young hopefuls have what it takes to obtain the coveted title of Chuunin? We'll find out soon, but first, let's meet our contestants!"

Tatsu made a motion, and slowly but surely, each of the fifteen participants began to slowly filter out. As they came out, Tatsu gave an introduction.

"The first and only contestant from Kumogakure no Sato, a boy who enjoys Jolt cola and dislikes martial arts movie stunts, let's give it up for Raiden!"

Raiden blushed as he moved along, surprised at the enormous cheer that arouse for him and a small section of the crowd which exclusively featured posters of the Kumo nin.

"Now since Raiden gets a bye to the next round, you won't be seeing him for a while folks. Moving on, we have two other single representatives today. The first is a boy from the Mist who could be considered mute yet is incredible in both Suiton techniques and Kenjutsu, as well as a mysterious power. The other is the lone star of the newly risen Otogakure no Sato, and plays a phat beat that he's sure the ladies will love. Let's hear it for Tri-Edge and Axel!"

Axel took his small amount of cheers with no small amount of humility, while Tri-Edge's single eye widened at the large section of the stands dedicated to him.

"Now we feature a trio of Kunoichi that I know quite well. All three are dedicated to their training, have proved incredible in combat and have come up with techniques that even Jounin would have difficulty with. I introduce you to Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata, and Yamanaka Ino, and Tenten… no last name given!"

A positively enormous section of the crowd gave a tremendous cheer, many of them male. At the same time, Tenten was being barely restrained from trying to murder Tatsu right on the spot.

"Coming in are two relative dark horses to this years main event. The first is an aspiring medic-nin who has tried and failed this exam seven times in a row voluntarily. The second is Sunagakure's new trump card and a former Jinchuuriki. I implore you to welcome Yakushi Kabuto and Sabaku no Gaara!"

The 'Kazekage' looked in alarm at Gaara, noticing now for the first time that the telltale rings around the boys eyes which indicated insomnia were absent. 'Kazekage-sama' began to sweat, panic starting to overtake him.

"Now we feature the heirs of many prestigious clans from right here in Konoha. I could tell you what they can do… but you'd have to kill me first! Please welcome Aburame Shino, Akimichi Chouji, Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru, and Uchiha Sasuke!"

A deafening roar arose. Tatsu smiled and fell silent. When the crowd died down, they whispered in suspense.

"Finally, you may not know him at the moment, but he's quickly gaining allies and shows no signs of stopping at his goals. An aspiring 'student-teacher' who has begun many ninja down the path of greatness and is my star pupil, MUHI NARUTO!"

The last one in, Naruto glared at his sometimes teacher in annoyance at the spectacle he was making of himself. Tatsu had the audacity to chuckle.

"So, without further adieu… let's get started!"

Tatsu leapt off the stage and into the commentator's box. Even though he was out of sight, the crowd could still hear.

"Now the first fight of the day shall be Axel from Sound against Uchiha Sasuke from Konoha. Let's set up the stage!"

The crowd was startled as after the two Genin had entered the arena, a glass casing began isolating them from the crowd. Even more surprising was when the landscape of the flat, bland arena began to change into a plains-type area, wind blowing across what seemed to be artificial grass.

"Round 1… begin!"

TSUZUKU!

Omake 1: The other commentator

"…and that's all I was thinking of to spruce up that boring arena of yours, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi stared in exasperation at Muhi Tatsu.

"All right. For the most part you've explained how these 'modifications' work and what I should expect. There's still one thing I'd like to know though Tatsu."

"Oh? What would that be?"

"Who would be your other 'commentator' during the matches?"

"Well…"

"The Flames of Youth are strong within me! I shall indeed get that esteemed commentator position!"

"Hmm? You say something Gai?"

"No, I wasn't killed by a Sand-nin Yuugao. I'm positive! cough"

"It is my fate to become a commentator, whether I like it or not."

"I wonder how my foolish little brother is doing…"

"Dattebayo!" (Earlier Naruto, not mine)

Tatsu chuckled sheepishly. "I'm still working through the applicants…"

Omake 2: A different kind of 'trade' for Muhi clan secrets

"I'm not sure what kind of tribute I could provide to you, Muhi-san, but maybe if you were to suggest something…?"

Tatsu gave a sickening grin and his adopted son groaned.

"To receive training from me, you must answer me these questions three!"

Nonplussed, Kurenai nodded dumbly.

"What… is your name?"

"Yuuhi Kurenai."

"What… is your quest?"

"To prove myself as a great ninja and serve my country."

"What… is your bust size?"

"A…. WHAT?"

Needless to say, Tatsu got quite the lump on his noggin for THAT question.

A/N: Hey there everyone! Sorry, but it's another filler chapter before the main event. Some of you may be thinking I included a bit too much Tatsu in this, not as much Naruto, but again, this is mainly filler, and honestly, would you rather have it be like Dragonball and have everyone talk about how strong each other is while grunting, or would you rather have an actual plot? Naruto and his friends will take the spotlight again soon, and we may just discover exactly what the power the 'student-teacher' and his teacher wield. Next chapter should feature many of the upcoming matches, and some of them will utterly blow your mind… well, I wouldn't go that far, but they'll be awesome, you'll see!

Until next time!


	13. Data File

For those of you interested in Dark Horse, here's a little something special. A character file, just like the data books for anime series' in Japan! (Okay, not exactly like them, but close.) Keep in mind that some of this information does give away spoilers. Enjoy!

I've been getting reviews asking for clarification on some of the references and characters in Mind's Eye, so, I updated the data file for you enjoyment. Other than the story's main content, let me know if there's anything else that confuses you readers.

IMPORTANT CHARACTERS:

Muhi-Uzumaki Naruto

Age: 12-13

Blood type: Hell if I know.

Relatives: Muhi Tatsu(adopted), biological relatives unknown

Likes: Anime/manga, Tatsu, teaching, Elven Fizz, and getting to see and experience new things.

Dislikes: Greed, selfishness, prejudice, hypocrites.

Hobbies: Seal making, going to Anime conventions with Tatsu and watching TV and movies with Tatsu and other friends.

Abilities: 'Mind's Eye' Taijutsu style, various elemental Ninjutsu, Shinobi basics, Sanjutsu and Muhi 'Kekkei Genkai'(?)

Description: A different Naruto from the one you and I know well, this new Naruto is cunning, intelligent and much quieter, mostly due to having someone to care for him. Adopted by Muhi Tatsu after meeting him at the age of six, Naruto has trained under the man for a long time… longer than you might think! Because of his amazing abilities, Naruto is an enigma that his fellow Shinobi wish to unravel. Unfortunately, not much is known about him or his abilities, forced to keep them secret at Tatsu's request. However, once Tatsu deems his friends worthy of trust, Naruto can unveil some of his secrets. That being said, Naruto is also loyal, has a good sense of humor and always willing to help someone in need. He's also becoming fairly notorious for spreading the homemade drink sensation Elven Fizz, which is apparently a recipe taken from real Elves of the singing forests. In addition, he seems to be becoming a bit of a ladies man.

Muhi Tatsu

Age: Unknown. Looks to be in his early thirties, late twenties.

Blood Type: When I asked Tatsu, he didn't know.

Relatives: Muhi-Uzumaki Naruto (adopted son), biological relatives unknown.

Likes: His specially made home, Naruto, Elven Fizz, Video games, Anime/Manga, beautiful women, good food.

Dislikes: Politics of any kind, loneliness, people who jump to conclusions without good evidence, Elves, spiders, and many other things.

Hobbies: Watching movies, metalwork(like making weapons and armor), going to Anime conventions with Naruto, watching TV and anime with an audience, video games, and quite a few other things over the years.

Abilities: Muhi 'Kekkei Genkai' (?), all other abilities are unknown.

Description: A man shrouded in mystery, Tatsu came across Naruto when he was just a boy and adopted him because he could relate to the boy's loneliness. Although Tatsu's fighting abilities are unknown, Naruto's skills are a testament to Tatsu's own and they share a similar ability that has yet to be revealed save for the fact that it can generate incredibly powerful Genjutsu. Tatsu is in some ways quite easygoing and likes to have fun, but when the chips are down, he can get VERY serious. Tatsu also seems to be a bit of a playboy (which is where Naruto gets it from) and also knows quite a bit more than he lets on. He essentially introduced the Elven Fizz drink to Konoha, and took the recipe from a village of Elves who had OD'd on the drink so much that it caused their magic to warp the area around them.

Muhi Ryu:

Age: Unknown. (Now deceased.)

Blood Type: Unknown.

Relatives: Unknown.

Likes: Good fights, chocolate, Ramen, Heavy Metal music.

Dislikes: His lack of freedom.

Hobbies: Sleeping, Electric Guitar.

Abilities: amazing Taijutsu ability; everything else is unknown.

Description: The final of the 'Muhi Trio', Ryu is unknown even to Naruto and does not seem to be related to his mentor. Ryu is incredible in combat, but annoys the people he meets to no end and seems very deceptive. Ryu does have a master though, but exactly who is that person is unknown also. He does not seem to have any Shinobi skills, which adds further to his mystery.

Ryu is now confirmed to have been a clone of Muhi Tatsu, created in order to gather information and possibly keep Naruto safe. He was killed sacrificing himself in order to destroy the monster within Sabaku no Gaara, although it is still unknown as to how he accomplished this feat.

The Mist Team (Tri-Edge, Haseo and Ryoko)

Description: A group of Genin from the Mist who entered due to Team 7's experimental Sanjutsu and the possible ramifications, The Mist team is based on characters from the .hack series of video games and Anime. In terms of their abilities here, Tri-Edge is the only real notable one amongst them and he has yet to say a word. He seems similar to Gaara in terms of manner, but much more in control.

Information on non-Naruto things i.e. Author Notes for the confused:

About Tatsu- Tatsu is quite simply an original character. He, Ryu and his home Havenwood were all original creations and not meant to be replicated. His power shall be revealed fairly soon, but it makes the surprise all the sweeter eh?

Sakura's blunted Spear Tackle- Sakura's technique is a variation of a technique used in the American Football Manga Eyeshield 21. It's basically nothing more than an incredibly sharp tackle using Chakra to augment.

Hiryuu Shoten Haa- Means 'Rising Dragon Ascension'. A move from the manga Ranma ½ which uses an enemy's energy and anger against them.

Elven Fizz- Another original creation. A drink that's meant to be like nectar of the gods and has been known to induce things that start with an 'O'.

Sanjutsu- Yet another original creation, Sanjutsu is based on the Triple Techniques used in the video game Chrono Trigger. Youtube Triple Tech, and you should have a good idea of how this works.

The Mist Genin- Haseo, Ryoko and Tri-Edge are all characters that are originally from a video game series known as .hack. Haseo and Tri-Edge are from the later G.U. series and Ryoko is from the original four game series.

Axel's team and Raiden's team- Original characters. I mainly made them with the purpose of being cannon fodder save for Raiden.

Sakura's Chakra Ryu: Mainly an original creation, save for in chapter ten when Sakura uses her 'pistol', 'Kane' 'Stamp' and 'Bazooka'. These are all variations on Monkey D. Luffy's fighting style in One Piece.

The Chamber of Time and Space: Asuma jokingly references this in chapter 10. The chamber is a place in Dragonball in which the characters can get a year's worth of training in a day.

Ayanami Rei/ Galactic Republic: Both are used as a joke in Chapter twelve; the Galactic Republic's clone army is from the Star Wars prequels, notably 'Attack of the Clones'. Rei on the other hand is from an Anime called Neon Genesis Evangelion, a classic that will definitely get those neurons firing. She is also a clone.

Butterbeer/Ogden's old Firewhiskey: Drinks coming from the Harry Potter book series. Used to illustrate that Tatsu's bar has EVERYTHING!

The Danger Room: The idea of the Danger Room originally comes from Marvel's X-Men comics in which they have a similar training facility to Tatsu's, save for the fact that Tatsu's doesn't need robots for sparring partners.


	14. Forget the others! Naruto and TriEdge!

After Tatsu had given the shout, it was as if a gun went off in the brains of both Sasuke and his opponent. Axel was keeping his guitar behind his back, and the Oto-nin leapt towards him at a fierce speed, about to unleash a devastating haymaker.

Fortunately for Sasuke, it was clear that Taijutsu was not obviously Axel's strength. While it might have been somewhat difficult for Sasuke to have dodged this attack beforehand, the month of training he had spent in the Danger Room had obviously done wonders for the young Uchiha. His speed and reflexes in dodging the punch were nothing short of astonishing. Axel was not to be deterred however. He sent a fast sweeping kick in the air towards Sasuke, but this time, the Uchiha ducked and used the momentum to spin while ducking, landing a crushing kick onto Axel's jaw. The sound ninja was sent skidding on the grasslands, taking more than a second to skid to a halt.

"Oh! Looks like Sasuke really got that pansy waist this time folks! Our young contender has proven himself capable in the art of Taijutsu, but I wonder if Axel has any other tricks up his sleeve?" Tatsu announced to the roaring crowd.

"Tatsu-san, I'm not sure that it's such a good idea to call a Genin from a new village a 'pansy-waist'."

Umino Iruka had been drafted into the role of second commentator, as Tatsu had found most of the others who had applied for the position far too annoying. "However, I too would like to see if Axel-san has any other abilities. He didn't seem to be much of a threat in the preliminaries."

Apparently tired of being seen as a fool, Axel took the guitar off his back to show that he wasn't playing around. Sasuke however, wasn't playing either. To Axel and the other's surprise in the crowd, Sasuke quickly took out a pair of small white plugs (for lack of a better word) and stuck them in his hand. Axel seemed to be convinced that they were some kind of new exploding tag of some sort, and hastily began playing on his guitar. Sasuke stuck the plugs into his ears and then made hand seals.

"Doton: Doryuuheki!"

A wall of earth erupted from the ground as a defense and covered Axel's view of the young Uchiha. Still playing, Axel played a tune different from the one he had tried at the preliminaries, this causing a massive wave of sound pressure to come flying forward. Fortunately for Sasuke, the wave only hit the earth wall, although the wall caved after only one of the blasts.

"Looks like Sasuke is playing it smart today folks! Using ear plugs to lower the effects that Axel's phat beats may have on him, Sasuke seems to have planned well for this. Sound-nins seem to specialize in sound after all!"

"I agree that it was a smart move Tatsu-san, but it may have been a bit risky. Sasuke-kun has effectively lost most of his hearing by doing so." Iruka cautioned.

"A good assessment Iruka-kun! Oh, it looks like Sasuke's got a trick up his sleeve now!" Tatsu shouted excitedly.

In the wake of the earth wall's demise, there now appeared five different Sasuke's, most of which were obviously Bunshin. Four of the Bunshin ran forward, with the last one waiting behind them.

"As if that trick will work baka!" Axel shouted triumphantly. Readying his guitar, he sent a blast of sound at the stationary Sasuke… which passed right through him!

"I'd say it worked just fine."

The Bunshin dispelled and another Sasuke burst out of the ground, a kunai in his hand. Like lightning, he threw the kunai into Axel's prized weapon and quickly used Chakra to rocket backwards. Axel managed to fire off one last burst of sound, but after he did, his guitar literally exploded in his face. The explosion sent him rocketing off into a wall, clearly defeated.

Those who thought that Sasuke had been cornered by the burst of sound were in for a surprise. As the compressed air reached the young Uchiha it hit… and he promptly burst into a cloud of smoke, indicating that he had used his teammates' prized Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. The real Sasuke was quick to emerge from the ground and rose up to an enormous chorus of cheers. Many in the audience in what seemed like an instant took down their signs for Axel and began putting up signs in support of others instead.

"Sasuke's sure gotten better, eh Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked from within the waiting room.

"Yeah, but he's not the only one. Besides, you know he was holding back Naruto." Sakura cautioned him. "If any one of us was going all out, we would have flattened that guy in seconds."

"That might be true Sakura, but the judges are looking more for Shinobi who don't waste their abilities." Ino said. "Sasuke has a pretty good chance of becoming Chuunin at this rate."

Meanwhile, Tatsu had called the match in Sasuke's favor and had now gotten back to the commentator's box.

"WHOAH! An amazing victory for Uchiha Sasuke everyone! Carefully using deception, tactics and stealth on his side, Sasuke managed to take out an opponent with only one major attack, and he didn't even need the vaunted Sharingan to do it! It looks like the Uchiha clan may be coming back in style! What did you think, Iruka-san?"

"I would have to say that I was both surprised and impressed Tatsu-san. Sasuke-kun never fought as well as this back in the academy; he seems to have held back quite bit in an effort to prove that he possesses the necessary Chuunin attributes. He had enough power to be a Chuunin before, but now… I think he might just be ready for the title." Iruka said, somewhat breathlessly.

Tatsu gave a short laugh. "That might be, but I think it's just because he wants to conserve his energy to fight my son; and speaking of Naruto, you all probably assumed that his fight was next, right?"

The crowd gave a loud shout, obviously pumped to see Muhi Naruto against the Mist's secret weapon, Tri-Edge.

"Sorry, but that might not happen next! We're not going to do the fights in order minna-san! Instead, we're randomly going to select the next fight to come!"

The crowd muttered in distaste, hoping that the younger Muhi would fight next. Tatsu pressed a button, ignoring a sweating Iruka giving him a panicked look and pressed the button again.

"Sorry everyone, but it looks like you're going to have to wait a bit for that fight! Next up are Inuzuka Kiba and Yamanaka Ino. Do your best guys!" Tatsu cheered.

An enormous groan was let out from the audience, some of them booing and others going so far as to throw tomatoes at the unlucky Muhi. He surprisingly took it in stride, catching the tomatoes and then eating some of them. Others he put in a box labeled 'Sasuke's prize'. (1)

Kiba and Ino tensed up and looked at each other.

"Kiba, I know that you might think me weak, but DON'T hold back on me!" Ino demanded.

Kiba's shoulders relaxed. "Don't worry, I won't. We all worked too hard for this to let it end quickly!"

Kiba motioned Akamaru to join him, then slowly began taking off the weights he had been inspired to use so long ago, now having considerably more weight. While they might have not been as heavy as say Lee's, the crack they made in the floor indicated that they still were quite a lot of weight to carry around.

To his astonishment, Ino began mirroring his routine and also took off a pair of ankle and wrist weights, these looking smaller yet about the same weight as Kiba's own. She merely smirked at him and began walking out of the waiting room.

Naruto was watching this little exchange and narrowed his eyes when he noticed something about Ino that didn't seem to have been a part of her before. He looked at Sakura and noticed the same thing on both her and Hinata. He walked over to Hinata (who blushed at his smile) and asked something in a low voice.

"What was that, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked sweetly.

"I said, have your Chakra reserves increased in the last month?"

Hinata gave a small start. "Yes, Naruto-kun. The constant training we all did in the Danger Room helped us gain a lot more Chakra than before. Ano, and also, Sakura-san, Ino-san and myself found a few techniques in hopes of increasing our reserves. How did you know?"

To her amazement, Naruto of all people began to blush and avert his gaze at both her and Sakura's bodies.

"Well, I guess you all just looked a little… stronger to me." (2)

Hinata gave a pleased smile, and to the astonishment of Tatsu's protégé, Hinata gave him a smoldering kiss, smiling at the end.

At the same time, Tatsu was getting into his role as commentator a bit too much while waiting for the two fighters.

"Remember audience members, in just a few short weeks, you'll be able to see all of this again when the video 'Chuunin Exam Greatest Hits Vol. 1' comes to stores everywhere. We are now accepting pre-orders throughout the exam; however, a full payment of 200 Ryo per copy is required! Also, we don't accept the heads of missing nin, nor do we accept trade in kunai or Cash on Delivery! Order now!"

Beside him, Iruka was getting quite irritated. "Tatsu-san stop plugging your products and get back to your job! Ino and Kiba are still waiting for the go ahead!"

"This stadium sits sixty thousand people Iruka. I couldn't build this stadium for free you know."

"But they're commercials for YOUR products!"

"Exactly. I save money on licensing that way."

"Just get on with it!"

Tatsu cleared his throat. "Right you are Iruka-san! Now, before we begin, does either of the fighters wish to make a boast?"

Ino and Kiba glanced at each other. Both shook their heads in Tatsu's direction.

"Okay, it looks as though neither fighter wishes to boast at this time so without further adieu, let's get started!"

The stadium area began to change yet again. What was once a plains area was now a boggy swamp.

"Round 2… BEGIN!"

Both fighters quickly ran away to seek cover amongst the terrain. Kiba began by trying to sniff out Ino's sent.

Realizing what the dog boy was trying, Ino sighed. Realizing that this was no time to be vain, she looked for the nearest mud puddle and dove in, making sure to thoroughly cover herself in the substance. Afterwards, she took a vial of an odd concoction she had made with the help of the female grass-nin and poured it over herself.

Kiba's eyes narrowed as he noticed that Ino's scent had seemingly all but disappeared and was now being replaced by a truly horrible smell that he simply couldn't take; it was difficult, but he managed to cut off the instinctual trait of the Inuzuka clan and stopped the Chakra going to his nose. He quietly motioned Akamaru to hide in case of trouble. Making a small leap out of the tree he had been hiding in, Kiba redirected Chakra to his ears in order to try and find the blonde's hiding place.

"Well Iruka-san, it looks as though both Yamanaka Ino and Inuzuka Kiba are off to a great start! Ino-san has managed to throw Kiba-san off track by replacing her scent with the use of a stink bomb. Quite ingenious I must say."

"You're right Tatsu-san. Not many realize one of the Inuzuka clan's weaknesses, but it seems as if Kiba-kun has trained hard to overcome it." Iruka concurred.

Kiba closed his eyes in quiet concentration. He could hear three distinct heartbeats, one of which he could tell was being moved at an insane rate underground. He waited, waited, waited… and struck!

Kiba burst forth like a rocket onto the being he was sure wasn't in Akamaru's direction. When he opened his eyes however…

"Akamaru?" he gasped.

Akamaru seemed to whimper pathetically. Kiba picked him up, remaining cautious, now noticing that neither of the heartbeats that wasn't his was no longer underground. What was especially curious was that another Akamaru came barking towards him.

It was after Ino hit his jaw that he realized the mistake he had made. (3) The blow had sent him sailing back, but Kiba was able to redirect his momentum so that his landing would be softened. Akamaru soon came to his side and seeing no other choice, Kiba fed his friend a soldier pill.

"It looks like things are heating up Tatsu-san! Ino-chan displayed quite a clever tactic by transforming herself into Akamaru in order to catch Kiba off guard."

"Definitely. What's even more impressive is that Ino-san hasn't even used any of her special abilities yet!" Tatsu exclaimed cheerfully.

"Like what Tatsu-san?" Iruka asked curiously.

Tatsu wagged his finger at the man. "You'll just have to wait and see."

Meanwhile, Ino was calming herself for Kiba's Beast Clone ability to start, knowing that the next move she made would take absolute concentration. Despite the fact that she was incredibly dirty, Ino still looked rather impressive as she began walking on some of the deep swamp water. As she did, the dog duo took advantage of the opening.

"Let's do it Akamaru! GATSUUGA!"

The duo sped forth like a bullet. Almost as quickly however, Ino formed the ram seal.

A second later, the crowd was driven wild.

Both Kiba and Akamaru had been trapped by vines that had seemingly grown overnight and were coated with deep thorns. The two were being held aloft seemingly through Ino's own will and Chakra, and after they began to tire, the vines grew limp.

Akamaru and his master lay panting, and Ino took out a kunai, ready for anything that might occur. Kiba turned to his partner and his face grew serious.

"Akamaru, I think the only way we can beat her at this rate is to use our secret weapon." Kiba panted.

Akamaru let out a series of yelps and barks.

"Yeah I know but… you know, we trained so hard. I want to show everyone what we can do, you know?"

Akamaru reluctantly agreed, and the two began getting up. Both still in their 'man-beast' form, the two started a strange little dance.

"What the hell?" Ino asked herself.

After about three seconds, the dance ended with the partners holding out their fingers to the side and then twisting so that each other's finger tips touched each other. As this happened, a bright light emerged. (4)

"Human-beast transformation: Werewolf!"

When the light ended, even Tatsu was astonished at what met his eyes.

What was once Kiba and Akamaru apart was now something… new. Apparently, this technique combined the power of both into one and the changes were rather significant.

Kiba's ever present jacket was gone, and he was now bare-chested with a smooth set of pectorals. His hair, once short and brown, was a long flowing mane, and his eyes looked absolutely feral. He was taller, and the 'fangs' of the Inuzuka clan, which normally didn't set in until just before the end of puberty, were fully matured and his face looked decidedly canine if not wolfish.

"How do you like us now, Ino?" The person asked.

Ino's hearing began noticing something… odd. It sounded as if this 'person' was still two separate minds, now both in partial control, instead of completely unified like it probably should have been. After noticing exactly how much Chakra this Kiba had compared to the other one, there was only really one thing she could do to stop him.

This new Kiba was much faster than the other one, and as he sped forward like a bullet, Ino decided that it was now time to use her trump card. She closed her blue eyes once, and when they opened, Ino's eyes became an entirely lavender color for some reason. She put her hands up in a seal.

"Shinrashin no Jutsu!" (5)

When the dust settled, Ino could be seen still clutching a Kunai protectively and amazingly wasn't that tired. Kiba however, was seen clutching his head in pain, and after a few long seconds, he fell down, defeated. When she was convinced that he was down for the count, Ino undid the Jutsu and her eyes returned to their normal blue after a single blink.

Tatsu finally cleared his throat. "Winner, Yamanaka Ino!"

A second or two later, the crowd roared in approval, especially the sections with Kunoichi. Kiba was also given cheers when he was taken away by the medics, even by those who were mainly supporting the Yamanaka girl. Inuzuka Hana and Tsume were especially impressed, having never seen a Jutsu like that ever before by the Inuzuka. Tsume's face gained a tear.

"He's growing up faster than I thought Hana."

Hana's eyes narrowed. "Did you see, Kaasan? Right in that last attack… Kiba was even faster than I am."

Tsume's eyes narrowed as well. "Yes, I saw that. He was much more calm than I've ever seen him in training." Her eyes began to tear up. "My little boy is growing up so quickly!"

Hana awkwardly patted her mother on the back as she began sobbing into her daughter's jacket.

Kiba was shocked. As the medics carried him through the waiting area, all of his friends congratulated him, even Ino. Finally growing very tired, the Inu-nin went to sleep with a smile.

At the same time, Ino was being given nice congratulations of her own by Naruto, as the VERY red face she displayed while being kissed thoroughly was any indication.

In the meantime, Tatsu was busy chatting up a storm.

"That match was much more enjoyable than I thought it would be Iruka-san. Much more exciting than Sasuke's fight! Who are you looking forward to seeing next?"

Iruka looked flustered for a second. "Oh! Er, I guess the match I'm looking forward to most is Naruto against Tri-Edge-san. Naruto was very clever back at the academy, yet Tri-Edge seems quite powerful. It will probably be intense!"

Tatsu looked slightly impressed. "I would definitely bet on that. Let's go to the next match folks!"

Tatsu pressed his selector again. Again, the result was not quite what the crowd had wanted.

"The next match is between Aburame Shino and Nara Shikamaru. Will both fighters please come forth?" Iruka asked.

Curiously, when both came out, Shikamaru raised a hand.

"You want to surrender Nara-san?" Tatsu asked.

When Shikamaru nodded, the crowd let out a groan.

"Okay, I guess because of a surrender, Aburame Shino goes on to the next round everyone! Let's see who is next on the docket!"

Tatsu paused after seeing what was on his selector and Iruka was astonished to see the absolutely EVIL grin that adorned his face.

"THANKS for being patient everyone! We now approach the match you've all been waiting for! It looks as though the next match shall be…"

He paused, the crowd still silent.

"MUHI NARUTO VS TRI-EDGE!"

While the arena was changing yet again, the crowd cheered for up to three minutes while the combatants approached the arena. Naruto was wished luck by his friends (and girlfriends) but looked very somber as he walked out; Tri-Edge followed, his lone visible eye swerving wildly from side to side. The Mist-nin drew his two tri-bladed weapons and he stared, unblinking at his opponent.

Naruto tensed as he faced the other side of the arena. This wouldn't be an ordinary fight, that was for sure. His mentor had warned him that something was amiss the day before the exam.

_Naruto and Tatsu were enjoying a rare day off. Tatsu had finally finished the preparations for the stadium the day before and Naruto had felt satisfied that he had trained at a good level; so, the two had decided to spend some now rare time together and had retreated to a Yakiniku restaurant that Chouji had recommended._

_The two had made idle chat for a little while, but eventually, the topic of Naruto's match came up, and Tatsu's protégé was startled to see an unusually serious look on his mentor's face after having mentioned Tri-Edge._

"_Naruto," his teacher had intoned. "For the first time outside of our training sessions, I'm giving you permission on using THAT power."_

_Naruto looked a little confused. "Sensei, are you talking about some jutsu that is supposed to be really powerful, yet I never get around to using?"_

_Tatsu gave him a look. "What? No! I'm talking about the Muhi clan abilities I taught you. I'm telling you this because that Tri-Edge kid… well, let's just say that I don't think that even you're impressive ninja abilities will be enough."_

_Naruto frowned. "How can you be so sure, sensei? What is it about Tri-Edge that makes you think he's so powerful?"_

"_Because I've done some investigations into EVERYONE in this exam; after what happened with Gaara, I figured that it wasn't just Sunagakure who would be trying to start something. Your little teaching methods did manage to show off Konoha's strength, but in the process, the other ninja villages were essentially forced to tip their hands." Tatsu paused. "Both Tri-Edge and Raiden were meant to be the respective futures of their villages; I'm sorry to say that they lost much of their humanity in the process."_

_Naruto wasn't to be deterred though. "Well, why aren't you as concerned about Raiden then? Is he just less strong or something?"_

_Tatsu sighed. "No. It's because Raiden managed to retain more of his humanity after he killed the former Raikage. Tri-Edge wasn't so lucky; he was taken from his mother when he was only a year old and was essentially forced to become the living weapon of the Mist. It didn't help that he was the last of the bloodline users left in Mist after The Great Purge."_

_Naruto paused for a moment and thought. "I assume that when Raiden killed the old Raikage, said Kage was sick or old?"_

_Tatsu nodded. "Almost everyone in Kumo wanted the old fuck-up dead after the stunt he pulled with Sinobi Gasir and the Hyuuga, but they apparently didn't want to lose the village's 'respect'. All that meant was that Raiden had more courage than almost any of the other ninja in that sorry excuse for a village." _

"_I don't get it though sensei. If the Mist was trying to eradicate bloodline limits and Tri-Edge had one, why didn't they kill him?"_

_Tatsu took a long draught of his water. "Because most people didn't know that Tri-Edge possessed a bloodline in the first place. He is essentially the trump card of Kirigakure for emergencies and because his bloodline was not as well known as say, the Kaguya, he was trained in secret under the old Mizukage in order to make sure that no one could touch him. Unfortunately for that Mizukage, even Tri-Edge wasn't enough against one of the former Seven Swords of the Mist."_

_Naruto motioned for his mentor to continue._

"_After Hoshigaki Kisame, the former leader of the swords left a dead damiyo in his wake, and after Momochi Zabuza's assassination attempt failed, the Mizukage became increasingly paranoid to the point where the only people he thought that he could trust were Tri-Edge and a Jounin who went by the name of Shini Ryo. He never thought that either would ever betray him and that was what led to his death. Ryo was the new leader of the Swords, and he was in a very important position serving as the Mizukage's other hand. When he had his chance though, he immediately assassinated the Mizukage, for turning his own son into a monster."_

_Naruto's eyes widened. "You-you mean that TRI-EDGE was his SON?!"_

_Tatsu nodded again. "Indeed, that was the case. Now here's where the story really turns tragic; Tri-Edge was so ingrained with loyalty that almost immediately after the killing blow was dealt, Tri-Edge murdered Ryo-san. He was so cold, so lifeless, that not only killing his own father phased him."_

_Naruto's brows furrowed. "Wait a minute sensei. Did Tri-Edge know that Ryo was his father?"_

"_Not until later. When he found out though… that was the scary part. After finding out, Tri-Edge did absolutely nothing."_

"_Nothing?"_

"_Nope. The only bond that the blue-haired boy remembered was to his mother, a woman who went by the name of Aura. I'm guessing that if you dig deep enough into his memories, you'll be able to get an edge on him through that method."_

_The two paused in their conversation for a little while._

"_So… you're letting me use THAT power huh? What about during that invasion?"_

_Tatsu gave his son a long, hard look. "Naruto, now that you've finished your basic training, that's pretty much up to you. I honestly think that if you reveal our secrets so soon, enemies will come knocking to Konoha's doorstep sooner than they'd like and such a prize would probably force some of the more… unsavory elements in the village to threaten everything you hold dear."_

_Tatsu's expression cleared. "However, I don't think you have to worry too much about the invasion. Training of Muhi Corps members 2 and 3 has finished, and they're eager to help out, so you'll have quite a bit of backup when fighting those Sound-nin. I'd honestly say that if you need the edge, you can use some of the more subtle abilities, but you probably shouldn't use abilities that can be noticed."_

"_Like my specialty?"_

"_Yes. That sort of thing stands out, even among Shinobi."_

_Naruto slowly bowed his head, acknowledging his father's point._

"_Wait… what do you mean members 2 and 3 of the Muhi Corps? I thought that I was the only member so far!" Naruto asked._

"_I've recently gotten some new recruits, kid. I did a favor for both of them, and they granted me tribute in exchange for the strength that the Corps offers."_

_Naruto's eyes narrowed. These two members… they couldn't be…_

"_What kind of tribute would this be sensei?" he drawled._

_Tatsu smirked. "That… is none of your business."_

Naruto shook his head. Now wasn't the time to get lost in the memories of Tatsu-sensei and his annoying impersonations of Anime characters. Said sensei's voice rang out.

"Does either fighter wish to make a boast?"

Naruto knew that he had to do this fight with everything he had. Both he and Tri-Edge shook their heads, and he finally noticed what shape the arena was in now.

The area was what one might find in a canyon area. For the most part, tall, jutted cliffs stood on either side of the area, with a mostly dirt-like ground and several outcroppings, with rock jutting out of various parts of said ground.

"ROUND 4… FIGHT!"

Tri-Edge decided to start things off and began forming hand seals. Naruto decided to play it safe for a counter and his eyes began to glow the same lavender color that Ino's had in the previous match, though they were less noticeable behind his shades. Tri-Edge didn't actually say the words loudly, but Naruto's hearing barely picked up the name of the jutsu.

"Suiton: Bakusui Shouha!" (Water Element: Explosive Water Shockwave!)

To Naruto (and the spectator's) amazement, gallons of water began to come out of Tri-Edge's mouth, absolutely covering the ground and forming the beginnings of a small pond, if not a lake as a series of waves formed and lifted the Azure haired boy above Naruto. Naruto quickly jumped to one of the rocks that was jutting out and awaited the Mist-nin's next move. The waves rose even higher now as Tri-Edge rode them, now charging for the young Muhi.

Having no other choice, Naruto leapt high into the air, eventually coming down on the rushing waters. He lost sight of Tri-Edge for a moment, then spun, throwing a shuriken into what he presumed was the Mist-nin's heart. Unfortunately, what he struck immediately turned into water.

"Mizu Bunshin?"

The real Tri-Edge had come up behind him, and had now plunged one of his blades into Naruto… who exploded, sending the Mist-nin flying. Many Jounin's eyes bugged out, seeing the Bakuretsu Kage Bunshin in action. Unfortunately for Naruto, this version of Tri-Edge also dissolved into a puddle of water.

Both of the REAL ninja were hidden. Naruto had hidden himself within one of the canyon's rocky caves while Tri-Edge was underwater, the only sign of his presence being a tiny hint of an underwater breathing tube.

Naruto was currently having an inner crisis. On the one hand, his Muhi abilities would probably allow him to easily win the match. On the other hand, he wanted to show his growth as a ninja, without using just Tatsu's power. He then decided to only use it if needed… or his promotion was in jeopardy.

Naruto readied a kunai that he had prepared specially for this match, a specific seal engraved onto it. He instinctively reached out for the presence of Tri-Edge and set to work.

Naruto leapt out of his hiding spot and threw one of his Shuriken at the spot in which he was fairly sure that Tri-Edge was hiding. The Mist-nin hurriedly dodged said shuriken, only taking one step onto the water in order to make a leap that would put him within killing range of the now open Naruto.

It happened almost instantly, and if it hadn't been for just how skilled the Mist-nin was, Tri-Edge would have been finished. He felt that the 'shuriken' that Naruto had sent was transforming into either the real Naruto or another Bunshin, which was now throwing a kunai that featured a special tag tied onto it. Tri-Edge was just about to leap when the kunai hit the specific patch of water that he was stepping on; a loud shriek erupted and an enormous amount of electricity began coursing through the Mist-nin's body.

This proved to be both disastrous and advantageous to the young Muhi; for once, Tri-Edge didn't dissolve into water, but was replaced by a small log. The enormous amount of electricity had fried the remaining Mizu Bunshin; however, the log that Tri-Edge had replaced himself with was covered with exploding tags which would have finished the young Muhi if he himself hadn't also used Kawarimi no Jutsu at the last moment.

The real Tri-Edge had finally emerged from his hiding spot and in the meantime, Naruto took off his training weights. The waves were still rushing by, and Tri-Edge had apparently decided that playtime was over if the expression on his eye was any indication. He quickly formed more hand seals at an insane pace, and an enormous mass of water began forming out of the waves. Again, Tri-Edge didn't say the Jutsu, but Naruto could see him mouthing it.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" (Water Element: Water Dragon technique!)

A giant dragon formed purely out of water sped straight for Tatsu's protégé. Naruto bit his lip and took out the second of the 'special' kunai he had prepared after studying seals and threw it at the approaching water dragon. Tri-Edge moved to dodge it, but the dragon was simply too big and the kunai moving too quickly.

The kunai's effects were not immediately apparent, but after a few seconds, the dragon began to solidify as it froze. Being an experienced ninja, Tri-Edge took advantage of the momentum that the now frozen dragon offered him and appeared as a blur to the young Muhi. Fortunately, Naruto was prepared.

As the powerful Mist-nin sliced through 'Naruto', onlookers could see that he had taken a page out of the book of his enemy. Naruto had used Kawarimi no Jutsu again, but this time, replaced himself with a rock that was covered in exploding tags. Tri-Edge hurriedly leapt back but was still given the shock of the explosion and didn't notice what was behind him until it was too late.

"RASENGAN!"

Tri-Edge turned at the yell of this technique, but it was too late. Naruto slammed a ball of blue, spinning Chakra into the living weapon's stomach. Tri-Edge was sent spinning straight into one of the canyon's walls… and dissolved into a puddle of water.

Naruto's eyes widened, but it was too late. The real Tri-Edge had now plunged one of his blades into his shoulder, making sure to keep his grip on the young Muhi. He was startled to see one final Mizu Bunshin have its arms turn into water and begin to engulf him. Even though he couldn't see it, Naruto gained the impression that Tri-Edge was more satisfied than usual.

"Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu." The Mist-nin whispered.

Without access to his weapons, no way to form jutsu, and to his alarm, the real Tri-Edge beginning to access his bloodline ability, Naruto then decided that this was one of those times that he absolutely needed THAT power.

To the amazement of the onlookers, Naruto's aura began flaring with the same purple aura he had only displayed once before against Lee. This time however, the sheer immense power of the aura could be felt pressing down and engulfing certain people, and was especially noticeable to those in the Kage's box.

The aura disappeared for a moment… then exploded! An enormous wave of energy came forth from Naruto's small frame and caused the water prison to literally explode from every angle, causing most of it to turn into steam. Knowing that he had no time to waste, Naruto gathered this energy back inside of him and hastily took off his shades.

Now that Tri-Edge's Mizu Bunshin had been killed, all that was left was for Konoha's finest Genin to peer into Tri-Edge's lone eye. Surprisingly, a predatory smirk came onto the young Muhi's face as he began to use his 'special' power.

"Now you're mine… Shini Kite!"

Tri-Edge only had the briefest of moments to widen his lone visible eye before he was finished.

Although to most people it wasn't noticeable, quite a few ninja (especially Naruto's friends) noticed that the young Muhi's eyes had not only become pupil-less like the Hyuuga, but said eyes had become nothing but a light lavender. While Tri-Edge was at first only dazed, five seconds into the 'attack' had the Mist-nin finally making some noise.

What came from the sword nin's mouth could only be described as an inhuman wail. Several people swore that the sound was so awful that their very souls were being tormented by the wail; it was as if Tri-Edge was being purged of the darkness that had inhabited him and said darkness was being forced out through sound.

In the Kage's box, most of the viewers were gazing in confusion and shock, while Sandaime looked out in sadness. Jiraiya gave him a serious look.

"Sarutobi-sensei… what exactly is that kid doing? When I was training him, he never showed any signs of a power like this! Is it because of… it?"

Sandaime sighed as both Tsunade and the new Raikage glanced at him. "Iie Jiraiya, it has nothing to do with…THAT. I cannot say much at the moment, but the ability that young Naruto possesses would allow him to take out any Jounin-level ninja who wasn't highly skilled in Genjutsu. It can be used for torture and interrogation, but it can also force a person to come to terms with themselves." Sarutobi took a long drag off of his pipe, idly noticing the new Mizukage (a rather beautiful Azure-haired woman) looking at Tri-Edge with what seemed to be a mix of anxiety and… hope? "Tri-Edge-san is now being forced to confront his inner demons. If he succeeds, he will have regained himself for the better. If he cannot… he'll die."

The Mizukage gasped and the others lowered their heads somberly, save for the 'Kazekage', who actually showed a trace of fear and excitement as he gazed at the young Muhi.

Tri-Edge finally stopped wailing. While he had once been held aloft in the air by his own Chakra, and by proxy his bloodline, he was now plunging towards the water like a comet. Naruto's eyes returned to their natural blue; he rushed and quickly caught the boy in his arms, now fighting an unconscious battle. Naruto whispered something almost inaudible to the boy, but it seemed to calm him down as the medics arrived.

Tatsu and Iruka, having been far too caught up in the action to even think about commentary, were finally taken out of their daze. Tatsu shook his body, regaining himself.

"Well, I think I speak for everyone here when I say… GREAT MERCIFUL CRAP! WINNER, MUHI NARUTO!"

It took a few seconds, but before long, the stadium quickly raised its previous noise level by several decibels, praising the incredible match that had just taken place.

For Naruto though, it wasn't the cheering that had made it worth it to him. It was the three female bodies that pressed against him when he came back to the waiting room.

A/N: Chapter is finally done. Hope you all enjoy the fight, as it gives quite a bit of insight into what exactly the Muhi power is.

Why did Shikamaru surrender so soon? Well, mainly it was because both he and myself were lazy (it's HARD to think up good strategies for Shikamaru.) but also because even against Shino normally, do you honestly think he could win?

Please review.

Chapter notes:

It's official. Sasuke does indeed love Tomatoes and are his favorite food, which is why Tatsu was collecting them.

The reason Naruto mentions 'Chakra Reserves' is a joke taken from a story called 'The Hyuuga Way'. In this particular story, the theory is that you can tell the size of a woman's Chakra reserves by the breast size.

What Ino did to Kiba, transforming into Akamaru is essentially what Naruto did to Kiba in the original series without Kage Bunshin.

Kiba and Akamaru's new move? Picture the Fusion dance from Dragonball.

(**Shinrashin no Jutsu**-Mind-Body confusion technique): Yamanaka clan technique that confuses the minds of those it hits. The fusion was especially weak to it due to the fact that Kiba and Akamaru hadn't practiced the technique very much and their minds were somewhat out of flux.

**Suiton: Bakusui Shouha (**Water Element: Exploding Shockwave!): A VERY advanced water technique which involves the user keeping a stored amount of water inside their own body and having it leak out to form a series of waves to both gain ground and use for Water jutsu. Exactly HOW the technique works is unknown, but it is most likely an S-rank due to the complexity and control required. Used by Kisame in Shippuden: E.13.

**Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu **(Water Element: Water Dragon technique): First used by Hatake Kakashi and Momochi Zabuza. An A-rank jutsu that turns and shapes a body of water into an enormous dragon that can engulf almost anything.

**Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu **(Water Element: Water Prison): First used by Momochi Zabuza, this technique involves the user using either the closest water nearby or that of a Mizu Bunshin to form a gigantic sphere of water which engulfs a person. If a person does not have sufficient training, they'll drown in a matter of seconds.


	15. Final matches! Invasion begins!

With the crowd now pumped from Naruto's fight with Tri-Edge (A.K.A Shini Kite), Tatsu had called a short break in the proceedings. This was not actually to give the fighters some breathing room, nor was it to give the audience a brief respite. No, Tatsu had called for the intermission because it was the only way he wouldn't have Iruka to interfere with his constant commercials.

"Remember audience members, in just two weeks my company, Dragon's Vault enterprises, will be publishing the book 'Behind the Hitai-eh', a detailed glimpse into these talented young fighters. What drives them? What do they enjoy in their spare time? Do they have significant others? Find out in just two short weeks! We are accepting pre-orders at this time, so don't delay! And remember, the first 200,000 pre-orders get limited edition copies with added content such as Muhi Naruto lying naked on a bearskin rug!"

Tatsu could have sworn he heard a faint "SENSEI!", but paid it no mind. Iruka had in the meantime finally made it back from his break and smiled at his co-commentator.

"Anything interesting happen while I was gone Tatsu-san?"

Tatsu smirked. "Nothing too interesting really."

The two grabbed their respective microphones and started up again.

"Well we're back everyone, in this amazing clash of titans! So far hopeful candidates Muhi Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Aburame Shino and Yamanaka Ino have made it to the next round. Now two questions remain: which three fighters will be skilled enough in these final matches to do the same, and how will the remaining fighters stack up against the unknown Raiden?" Tatsu said breathlessly. "Iruka, who would you say is most likely to make it?"

"That's a good question Tatsu-san. Personally, in the match between Haruno Sakura and Tenten, I would put my vote down for Sakura; she wasn't that talented in the early days of the academy, but in recent months she's proven herself to be better than almost any of the Genin kunoichi I've ever met, with the possible exception of Ino-san and Hinata-san."

"What about Hinata-chan, Chouji-kun, and the match between Gaara-kun and Kabuto?" Tatsu asked.

"At the moment it's too hard to tell with Chouji-kun and Hinata-san because I don't know their abilities currently. The other match, I would have to say that there's a good chance of Gaara coming out on top. I don't know why, I can just feel it in my gut." Iruka finished.

"Well said Iruka-san. Let's get the next match underway everyone! Our next fighters shall be… Haruno Sakura VS Tenten!"

The audience gave a loud cheer. The weapon mistress of Team Gai strode forward confidently, but Sakura stayed back for a second. The reason being that her prospective boyfriend was giving her a rather special kiss, 'for luck' he said. As she was released, breathless, Naruto came up and embraced her in a hug.

"Go now Sakura-san. Show them everything we've been working for since the beginning. Show them that you have indeed blossomed, just like I said you would."

Sakura blushed so heavily that someone would have thought steam was coming out of her ears, but had a smile on her face to accompany it. She nodded, and walked forward proudly.

The two stood at opposing sides, Tenten giving a confident smirk. Sakura's expression was blank, unnerving the weapons mistress slightly.

"Does either fighter wish to make a boast?" Tatsu asked.

To Tatsu's surprise, both fighters nodded. He chuckled, feeling a little out of sorts.

"All right then. Tenten-san, what handicaps will you deal with?"

Tenten's gaze put her right in the line of the commentator's booth. "I will fight without ninjutsu or Genjutsu, Tatsu-sama, Iruka-sensei."

As Tatsu gulped (not liking to be called 'sama' by someone like Tenten), Iruka was left with his task.

"Sakura-san, which boasts do you wish to make?"

"I will fight without using traps." Sakura answered calmly.

Tatsu regained his bearings and cleared his throat. "Well there you have it. Both Sakura-san and Tenten-san have been given handicaps; whoever wins will gain a much greater chance of becoming Chuunin. Whoever loses will lose big!"

As Tatsu talked, the stadium area changed again. Formerly a canyon type area, the area now changed to a series of cliffs, in the center of which was a raging waterfall. Sakura and Tenten were placed on opposite sides of a bridge above said waterfall. Both ladies took out a kunai and grinned fiercely at each other in anticipation.

"Round 5…. Fight!"

With a burst of speed, both fighters charged full throttle at the other, a clang sounding as the two kunai clashed. Both girls used their momentum to turn around, as a ninja NEVER wanted to put their backs towards an enemy. Tenten readied herself to charge again, and Sakura merely stood her ground, ready to defend.

Back in the commentator's box, Tatsu grinned in anticipation.

"Two femme fatales enter the arena, and only one will leave victorious! Although Tenten has the edge in experience here, Sakura is certainly no slouch. I even know for a fact that Sakura and her teammates were able to take out a notorious Missing-nin from Iwagakure with a nearly invincible jutsu! Add in the facts that Sakura-san has spent the last month honing her skills in my renowned training facility and that Maito Gai is fairly sexist when it comes to training his students, I'm willing to bet good money that Sakura will win!"

Iruka glanced nervously as he noticed Gai barely being held back by Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai, and even then just barely. At the same time, Lee was being held back by Neji, the latter not unhappy because he knew that while Tatsu's remarks were hurtful, Gai did tend to favor Lee due to his 'disability'.

"Tatsu-san, I'm not sure that it's such a good idea to say such a brazen statement." Iruka cautioned. Then Iruka's gaze turned questioning. "About that missing-nin… I would guess that it was C-ranked, right?" he said, hopeful.

Tatsu shook his head. "Nope. I thought you would know Iruka-san, being a teacher in the academy, that with significant training and teamwork, even three Genin can defeat a Jounin. Team 7 defeated a Missing-Nin who was A-ranked at minimum and possessed a vaunted bloodline."

Iruka gaped at the man, awestruck, which Tatsu took as an opportunity to sneak in an extra comment.

"Now everyone, regarding a comment I made earlier, we are now actually accepting bets made on the fights! Bets include who will win, how they will win, boasts, and more! Bets that don't involve monetary value however, must be given a description. If you wish to do so, pick up the special cards under your seats and turn them in to the special kiosks at the vendor stands, having written down your bet on the cards. For the special bets, see me after this fight and I'll take care of all of your needs... and if you don't pay up, I'll see YOU!"

"NANI?" (WHAT?)

This comment came simultaneously from Iruka, Sarutobi, Tsunade and Shizune, all for various reasons which the reader can guess at. Almost immediately afterwards, nearly everyone in the stands began to pull out the special cards Tatsu had magically managed to appeared under the chairs without explanation. Most people just looked at the cards, interested in possible odds that the cards presented; others however, hastily began putting down their bets, in desperate yet foolish hopes of winning it all.

In the meantime, Iruka had unexpectedly pulled out a gigantic mallet with the words 'PROPERTY OF TENDO AKANE' engraved on one side. Iruka's eyes began glowing red with anger, apparently having taken enough of Tatsu's sporadic comments. The white haired teacher began sweating nervously, backing away slowly.

"Now, stay away Iruka-san, let's just calm dow-, no NO, NOT THE FACE, NOT THE FA-, NO! NOT DOWN THERE! URK!"

As Sakura continued to hold her ground, making Tenten become more frustrated as time went on, Tsunade hastily grabbed her card, Shizune managing just as quickly to grab on to the other end. As the master and apprentice began to argue about the staggering amount of debt that Tsunade had managed to accumulate, Sarutobi, Jiraiya and the Raikage quietly put down their own bets. The same could also be said of the various Jounin sensei (Gai was putting down Tenten's name with a sort of vindictive pleasure, making a bet he would regret later; the same could be said for Lee. Neji however, would find something to be very happy about soon.), nearly every ninja in the stadium, Naruto and his friends, and even Raiden, the sand siblings and a now sleeping Tri-Edge along with the new Mizukage sitting at his bedside.

Sakura had finally managed to frustrate Tenten enough so that the weapons mistress was beginning to start using long-range tactics. Grinning with vindictive pleasure, Tenten threw an exploding tag into the middle of the bridge. Sakura thankfully managed to leap backwards, but the tag still went off with a bang and the bridge collapsed in two. As they both fell towards the raging waterfall's top, Tenten threw a barrage of shuriken towards Sakura. Sakura was prepared though, as with only one handseal she performed a jutsu.

"Suiton: Suijiheki!" Sakura shouted.

A towering wall of water rose to meet the projectiles and stopped their course. However, this wasn't the wall's only purpose, as Sakura was able to nimbly leap onto the wall's top and launch herself towards Tenten. Growing alarmed, Tenten quickly took out a concealed kunai, throwing it with all her might. Tenten thought that at such a close range she couldn't possibly miss…but mentally cursed as the kunai passed straight through 'Sakura', revealing that it had all been an illusion or a replacement Bunshin. The real Sakura was behind Tenten and was readying a punch. Although Tenten had managed to barely use Kawarimi no Jutsu in time to avoid the blow, she had still been grazed from the super powered punch, a terrible bruise already forming on her arm. The log Tenten had replaced herself with however hadn't been so lucky, and to the people watching, the log seemed to explode from the inside out, disintegrating into dozens of pieces.

Tsunade's sharp eyes noticed this and narrowed; Shizune finally let go of the betting card, letting out a gasp and she noticed the familiar ability. Tsunade gazed suspiciously at her former master.

"Sarutobi-sensei… where did that girl learn how to use strength like mine? Who taught her how to do such a thing?" Tsunade growled.

Sarutobi smiled. "Nobody taught her, Tsunade. Sakura, Ino and as you will later see Hinata, have become quite possibly the most talented kunoichi Konoha has come across since you, Mitarashi Anko and Yuuhi Kurenai; it is very likely that they will become better. Sakura has never been particularly strong in the physical arts, but she has always been gifted with extraordinary intelligence and with the help of people such as Muhi Naruto she has been able to figure out the methods behind certain techniques and replicate them. Well, that and she has extraordinary Chakra control." Sarutobi said, as if unimportant.

Tsunade was somewhat mollified. "I thought that kunoichi trained in peacetime would have brought the overall status quo down, but I guess I was wrong."

Sarutobi shook his head. "Actually, most of them have. All three of those Kunoichi did used to be considered fairly weak compared to their male classmates. I don't know what he did, but Muhi Naruto managed to light a fire within Sakura that spread to Ino and Hinata as well. They now have goals rivaling that of the very dream of becoming Hokage itself."

"What goals would that be, Hokage-sama?" Shizune asked curiously.

Sarutobi gave a smile. "Hinata has confided in me that she wishes to aid Sakura in changing Konoha's clan system, starting with the Hyuuga and their divided families. Ino wishes to create a force dedicated to weeding out corruption inside of Konoha, and both wish to become a legend rivaling the Sannin."

Shizune's eyes widened while her mentor stared curiously at the man.

"And Sakura?" Tsunade asked.

Sarutobi paused for a good while.

"She wishes to surpass you and become the world's greatest kunoichi."

Tsunade's honey-brown eyes widened. It had always been the various Hokage, Jiraiya or Orochimaru who were the prominent legends in Konoha, the White Fang being an old memory that the ruling council had wanted to make them forget and Uchiha Madara an ugly reminder that the Uchiha clan had wanted erased. Tsunade however, was usually not seen as the strongest of the Sannin and that fact was one of many which lead to her compulsive drinking and increasing frustration with gambling. To hear that someone wanted to surpass HER… not Jiraiya, not Sarutobi-sensei, not Yondaime but HER…

That was when Tsunade began to think that maybe Konoha wasn't as hopeless as she had thought recently.

In the meantime, a now hurting Tenten had decided that it was time to take the kid gloves off. She hastily unrolled four separate scrolls, and they each immediately covered every limb of her body. Weapons began coming from every single direction as a literal sphere of pointy objects flew out of the scrolls. Sakura strangely just stood on the opposite shore of the waterfall, apparently gaping in surprise at the hailstorm now approaching. After about ten seconds, the barrage finally stopped, and the bloodied and cut form of Sakura was seen prone on the ground. Tenten smirked in apparent success as she began to use the attached Chakra strings to pull the hailstorm of weapons back. As the massive shadow formed by the weapons being pulled back was made, Tenten failed to notice eight other weapons within their shadow. Tenten started, the weapons beginning to fall as she noticed that most of her body began to feel numb. The Chakra strings dissolved, and most of Tenten's arsenal was sent flowing down the waterfall.

To her horror, Tenten could see that the person she had assumed was Sakura injured was now dissolving into nothingness. Tenten had been tricked by another illusion, and Sakura had managed to get the drop on her; apparently, Sakura had snuck eight senbon needles into her weapon's shadow, aiming at critical pressure points and now Tenten was utterly defenseless. As the real Sakura leapt out of the ground with a positively EVIL smirk, Tenten knew that she had lost.

Sakura formed a mallet made of pure Chakra, and with a wind up, the hammer fell down onto Tenten's head, causing her to black out. Sakura 'pulled' the Chakra back inside of herself and hurriedly caught the girl. She gave a thumb up to where she assumed the commentator's box was. Thankfully it was.

Tatsu, having now recovered from almost having his genetic line taken away from him forever, glanced dully at Iruka, who was watching him like a hawk.

"Winner, Haruno Sakura!"

The crowd went absolutely wild, in awe at the skill that these GENIN of all people had accumulated so quickly. In one of the front boxes, the various Jounin sensei were astonished.

"Kakashi…your students are no Genins." Asuma started. "At the very least they have to be Chuunin level."

"Yeah, it surprised me too." Kakashi admitted. "All of the Kyuunin managed to make it to the Chuunin exam finals. My kids all proved that they're good enough for Chuunin, two of Asuma's three have proven their worth, Kurenai's kids are unknowns but quite skilled at this point, and all of Gai's kids were taken out by two of mine and a Kumo nin."

Gai continued wailing, while Kurenai raised a brow. "Kyuunin?" she said questioningly.

Kakashi nodded. "The Sannin were three legendary ninjas. I think we have the makings of NINE legendary ninjas of Konoha here if they continue at this pace."

Asuma gave a short chuckle. "Kakashi, our students are good, but do you honestly think that they're THAT good?"

"Yes." Kakashi said simply. "When I went to help Sasuke's training at Tatsu's home, all of them showed abilities far beyond what they've been showing here. After seeing how much they've all improved, I've been thinking of asking Tatsu to use that Danger Room myself."

"Danger Room?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Not much I can tell you about it, as I haven't tried it out myself, but it apparently simulates real battle conditions and forces the trainee to improve as traps and opponents of all sorts come at you from all sides. Apparently, Tatsu has found a way to make it so that these fake opponents constantly increase in difficulty, and there is NO WAY to become a 'champion' of this room."

As Kakashi finished his explanation, even Gai stared curiously, thinking of the possibilities of such a device. Kurenai's forehead crinkled, a sign that she was deep in thought. She cleared her throat.

"So, Kakashi, about how much of Sasuke's training did you help with in the past month?" she asked.

"Not much." He admitted. "When it comes to training for ninja, experience ultimately has proven to be what makes you stronger, not jutsu. All of our students have done far better with Naruto's help than I would have thought possible, and their progress makes me think that maybe I they can make their dreams come true."

The Jounin became silent. While they were all considering this, Kurenai's face grew contemplative. All of her life she had struggled in the world of a male dominated workforce, barely even making it to Jounin, and people like Kakashi and Gai still managed to outdo her; Kurenai's dream, relatively unknown to most people, was to have more Kunoichi become infamous. Tsunade was all well and good, but besides her and a few of the Mist's swordswomen, it was almost always the men who became the legends. It might be difficult to swallow her pride, but perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea to ask Tatsu's help for training after all, considering that his own student was able to accomplish so much with Hinata.

In the meantime, Gai had resumed wailing and it was only after an irritated Asuma turned his head over to the man that they found out why. Apparently, Gai had bet his position as Tenten's sensei and lost it. Because the odds were double or nothing in favor of Sakura, he had also lost Neji.

As if that weren't bad enough, Lee had had enough faith in his precious Gai-sensei to do the same thing, betting himself. While it wasn't exactly clear how this would work out, it seemed as if Muhi Tatsu had gained himself three new students.

Speaking of Tatsu, the white-haired enigma had left his commentator's post for about five minutes. Iruka glanced at him curiously, but Tatsu continued on as if nothing had happened.

"Well ladies and gents, we're approaching our final two matches of the day. First up, we have Akimichi Chouji against Hyuuga Hinata. While neither fighter has gained as much attention as some of the others, I have a feeling that this will be a match to watch. Does either fighter wish to make a boast?" Tatsu asked.

Both Hinata and Chouji glanced warily at each other. Neither of them knew each other very well, but it would be extremely foolish to underestimate either of them. The two shook their heads. After they had finished, the arena had then changed into a vast desert, with sand covering almost every inch of the environment. Both Hinata and Chouji took fighting stances, Hinata for some reason putting on a pair of fingerless gloves.

"Okay then, neither fighter wishes to make a boast. Iruka, if you would do the honors?"

"Eh? Oh, sure, Tatsu-san. Umm, Round 6… Hajime!"

Both fighers backed away from each other, their gazes never straying from the other. Chouji quickly bent down and took off a pair of wrist and ankle weights, which would have made sizable dents in a solid floor. Hinata smiled and did the same thing. Finally, the fight started when Chouji shot forward towards the girl. With almost lightning speed, Hinata hit the boy with a Jyuuken strike and turned around, as if she could already tell what Chouji had planned. As predicted, Chouji had used Kawarimi no Jutsu and a log appeared behind Hinata.

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" Chouji shouted. An amazingly large arm was headed straight for Hinata's gut, but amazingly, the powerful blow was stopped only by Hinata's two hands. Chouji's eyes widened as his arm shrunk back to normal size; Hinata took advantage of the distraction and used her amazing speed to perform a palm thrust onto Chouji's gut.

"IMPACT!" Hinata yelled in triumph.

This was not a Jyuuken thrust, but something far more powerful as a terrible looking wound literally exploded from Chouji's body. The boy coughed up blood as he retreated a fair distance apart. Panting, Chouji hurriedly formed a seal and glowing green Chakra appeared from his hands. Still watching Hinata, quite a few of the onlookers were astonished as Chouji's wound began healing. When the wound had finally finished healing, Chouji took out two items from his supply pouch. One was a standard soldier pill, which he quickly bit down on. The other was a curious looking yellow ball-shaped tablet. He grinned at Hinata.

"I see now. Hinata-san, you came up with an attack like the impact dial in One Piece, didn't you?"

Hinata's pearly eyes widened, but she smiled. "That's right Chouji-kun. I wonder though, what could that curious medicine in your hand be?"

"I'll show you." The boy said in challenge. Still gripping the 'medicine', Chouji performed a series of seals, sucking air into his body as he did so.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" Chouji shouted. A stream of wind bullets came bursting out of the Akimichi's mouth, each of which spread the desert sands so heavily that the environment could be barely seen. Chouji hurriedly formed another few seals, and then ingested the curious 'medicine'.

"Rumble!" he said quietly.

"Byakugan!" Hinata whispered. Without her vaunted bloodline, Hinata would have almost been finished in this fight, as she hadn't quite gotten the hang of Chakra sensing just yet. At the same time, Chouji's legs grew as if by magic and he took a mighty leap up.

"Jumping Point!"

At the apex of his jump, Chouji's legs shrunk back down in size and he formed a circle from his two hands.

"Brain Point: Scope!"

In front of his very eyes, an nearly invisible scope sight could be seen moving in front of Hinata, who was now forming handseals of her own. To the amazement of the crowd, as the sand was dispersing, they could now see a gathering of electricity form around Hinata, her eyes now growing vindictive. Cupping her palms forward, the lighting burst forward from Hinata's small frame. 10,000 volts flew towards Chouji and it seemed as if the boy had been literally fried alive… until he burst into smoke. Hinata's response time was yet again quick as she turned around. This time however, Chouji was too quick for her, and a blow even stronger than the multi-size technique landed on Hinata's face.

"Arm Point!" Chouji shouted again. His arm muscles now were bulging to the size of melons. Apparently, Chouji had discovered the Byakugan's weak point, so Hinata quickly deactivated the bloodline. Hinata then stood in a defensive stance, as she knew now what it was she needed to do in order to win the match. Chouji's abilities were again based on something from the One Piece manga and according to that manga, she only had about another minute and a half before Chouji's abilities were taken.

Chouji's face grew somber as he noticed that Hinata had figured things out. He tried thinking of a strategy, any one. Genjutsu wouldn't work, Hinata may not have been as good as Neji but her Taijutsu was still superb, and based on what she had shown before, none of Chouji's Ninjutsu would work on her. He was still training with the bo staff, and there was almost nothing he could form a trap out of. So, Chouji took a leaf out of Shikamaru's book.

"Examiner!" he called out.

"Yes Chouji?" Tatsu asked.

"I give up!" Chouji answered.

Tatsu shrugged. "Okay then. Winner, Hyuuga Hinata!"

The crowd groaned, getting pumped as the fight had gone through it's course. Shikamaru grinned, thinking that maybe it was time he and Chouji should try playing Shogi again. Ino sighed in disappointment, but smiled anyway as her teammate had put on an admirable performance.

In the meantime, Kiba and Shino had been staring wide-eyed at Hinata; no longer was she the same wallflower they had known back in the academy, she could probably kick either of their butts without trouble!

Akimichi Chouza had pretty much been wide-eyed along with his clan members for almost the entire fight, along with his friends Yamanaka Inoichi and Nara Shikaku. However, when the fight had finished, he gave a proud smile.

"Heh. So that's why Chouji was so interested in the scrolls on the family pills. I think we have the makings of an even more legendary trio on our hands boys." Chouza smirked.

"Yeah." Inoichi agreed. "I'm actually glad now that our family runs a flower shop judging by what Ino-chan was able to accomplish. I don't think your wife is going to let either you or Shikamaru let this down Shikaku."

Shikamaru's father sighed. "It's kind of funny. My son complains about everything being troublesome, yet he ends up as the most troublesome one of all to himself."

Shikaku only sighed again as his two friends began laughing at his expense.

Up in the Kage box, most of the attendees looked in wonder at what Naruto's little group had been able to accomplish. However, the 'Kazekage' had decided that he had had enough. Orochimaru gave a signal to one of his personal guards, and the 'guard' (Kabuto in disguise) began to make preparations. Orochimaru had gotten tired of his plans being constantly foiled and come hell or high water, he was determined to make Konoha burn, Uchiha or no. He was especially getting sick of Muhi Naruto, managing to get Sasuke away from him ( or so the snake thought.) and had included the order to have five Jounin fight the boy at once.

In the meantime, Tatsu and Iruka both were getting a little annoyed, and they weren't the only ones. Both had called Gaara and Yakushi Kabuto out and only Gaara had appeared, noticeably with a lack of rings around his eyes. The crowd was also becoming restless, and after five minutes, Tatsu was beyond pissed. So, he did what he believed was his right as an examiner was.

"Right, that's it! Yakushi Kabuto is disqualified, and Gaara goes on! Now for Part 2, we first have Aburame Shino Vs Raiden!"

The crowd began to cheer, but before the fight could begin, a loud explosion went off in the middle of the Kage box. Without any fanfare, Orochimaru abducted Sandaime onto a nearby roof while most of the rest of the crowd was beginning panic. Kabuto's eyes widened in alarm as he realized that his Genjutsu had had no effect. The invasion had begun and already it was going wrong.

Tatsu and Iruka may have had their differences, but both men knew their roles here. The two nodded at each other, a serious look on their faces and leapt off to help evacuate the civilians and non-combat personnel. As they did, Tatsu took out a small device which looked like a speaker, pressed a button and spoke into it.

"Muhi Corps members 2 and 3 move out and help us evacuate the civilians! After we're finished, do your best to wipe out as many of the Sound ninja as you can and only target Sand ninja if you've run out of targets!" Tatsu ordered.

"Understood! We'll be there as soon as possible!" the voice on the other side chirped. Tatsu pressed a different switch on the device and spoke again.

"Calling Muhi Corps member 1; come in Naruto!"

"Roger sensei, what are your orders?" Naruto asked.

"Take your eight buddies and form up kid! Form into teams of three and defend the village until the civilians are evacuated. After that, all of you can go wild! You're in charge now kid, I'll let you know when the evacuation is complete. Oh, and meet up with Gaara, Raiden and Tri-Edge. Gaara is definitely willing to help you, and the other two might be willing too. Got it?" Tatsu asked.

"Got it sensei! We'll get to it. Naruto out." The voice responded.

Tatsu put the device into one of his pockets. He then turned to Iruka with a somber look.

"Iruka, I won't be able to meet up with members two and three. I need you to do that for me." Tatsu requested.

Iruka started. "Eh? But why not, Tatsu-san?"

Tatsu glared at the enormous purple barrier that had erupted which not even Tsunade's super strength could put a dent into.

"Because I'm going to make sure that Sandaime Hokage doesn't die." Tatsu's eyes could be seen glowing a lavender color behind his shades, an angry expression doting his face for the first time almost anyone could remember.

Iruka was still confused. "Tatsu-san, I thought you had given up fighting though. Why help us now?"

Tatsu gave a sad smile. "Because if the old man died, my son would be sad. Do I need any other reason?"

Iruka shook his head. Tatsu handed him a sheet of paper which contained information on Muhi Corps members two and three. With a mock salute, the man seemed to vanish into thin air as he sped towards the barrier. Iruka, still moving, glanced hurriedly at the information. As his eyes scanned a particular sentence, he did a double-take.

"ANKO?"

Chapter is finally done. Sorry to keep everyone waiting, but inspiration was a little dry the past few weeks, and hopefully this will make up for it. Please let me know what you think.

Footnote: Both Chouji and Hinata's new abilities come from One Piece, like Sakura's Chakra Ryu. Hinata's 'Impact' attack is based on the impact dials used in the Skypiea arc of One Piece, while Chouji's 'medicine' is a blatant rip-off of Chopper's Rumble ball, save the Horn Point. I figured that it would suit his family style, as they specialize in body manipulation.

See you next chapter!

Omake: Tatsu gets REALLY pissed.

As the explosion covered the stadium, Muhi Tatsu's eyes became bloodshot, fed up with the defacement of his beautiful stadium.

"ARRRRGHHHH! THAT'S IT! BIG O, SHOWTIME! EVA 01, COME FORTH! WING ZERO I SUMMON THEE! XENOGEARS, COME TO MY SIDE!"

A large rumble erupted, and after it finished, every single enemy ninja wet their pants. Above Tatsu were four giant robots, each out for blood…

The Next day…

"Tatsu-san, I'm afraid that while you did drive off the invasion, you CAUSED MORE DAMAGE THAN THE ENEMY!"

"Umm… Sorry?"


	16. Unstoppable Kyuunin! Results of training

A/N: Well, here it is, an extra-special and long chapter for all my patient readers. Just have a few things to say that you should know. The first is that Tatsu's upcoming scene is pretty long and if he seems too Uber than I apologize. If you don't like it and still like the story, don't worry; I'm not going to have a story where Tatsu becomes the main character and starts pounding the shit out of Akatsuki. That wouldn't make the story any fun. He's mainly in the story as a teacher, not a fighter, this just happens to be a special case because he's trying to make sure that Sarutobi stays alive.

The second thing you should keep in mind is that this chapter would most likely be rated M due to extreme amounts of violence and gore, which Kishimoto probably didn't put in because he wanted to ensure that Naruto was kept a Shonen series. If this sort of thing makes you squeamish, try to skim is all I can say.

Enjoy the chapter!

Umino Iruka had seen many things in his life, plain, strange and otherwise, despite only being at the age of twenty two. Strange things came naturally with the profession of being a ninja. Some days you might come across an interesting new jutsu used by an enemy, someone might discover a long forgotten bloodline, or you might even get to rescue the occasional princess or two. However, even by Iruka's standards, the sight that met him upon finishing the evacuation of the southern sector of the village was odd.

In passing, he had stopped briefly to glance at the dossier that Tatsu had gotten him. Iruka had known that the man was apparently Naruto's father, and as such, probably taught him a great deal. However, both Naruto and his adopted father were nearly as silent as tombs and the intelligence department couldn't discover hide nor hair of where they went. It had sent quite a few alarm bells throughout various ninja clans when Sarutobi himself admitted that he wasn't able to see the place where their children had gone to train for the Chuunin exams. It seemed odd to the various ninja and Jounin at the time that the children decided to go off on their own rather than ask for help from their Jounin-sensei, but the results seemed to indicate that either Tatsu and his protégé were far more skilled than they had let on, Konoha's standards had laxed in peacetime more than they had thought or both. As if that hadn't been enough, there had been those incidents in the Chuunin exams with Muhi Ryu, as well as two disappearances which not even the ANBU had been able to find any trace of. The first had been a Kunoichi from Otogakure no Sato which that village surprisingly didn't seem to place much importance in; the second had been Mitarashi Anko of all people. While Anko had left a note and had cleared her absence with Hokage-sama, it was still odd that no one else knew exactly what she had been doing or why. Most assumed that she had been doing reconnaissance work on Orochimaru, but if what Iruka was seeing now was to be believed, that didn't seem to be the case.

Iruka stumbled into a scene that could only be seen as a slaughter. He recognized Anko along with a very long-haired Kunoichi in the midst of a heated battle that despite the fact that the odds were against them, was quickly turning in their favor. Two Oto bodies were already lying at their feet, but the two were surrounded by twenty Shinobi, things looking awfully grim. However, the two girls simply smirked and Iruka could have sworn that a faint tinge of a lavender aura appeared around both Kunoichi. In a near instant, dozens of wounds appeared on every single surrounding Shinobi at vital spots and when the instant passed, both Anko and the long-haired brunette could be seen with triumphant smiles on their faces as they each held on to a bloody kunai. Iruka could trace no Chakra in the strikes so obviously and amazingly they were done with pure speed. All twenty bodies slumped backwards onto the ground and the ground was stained red. Anko and the brunette looked up and gave pleasant smiles as Iruka stared at them, wide-eyed. Anko looked from left to right, eyes narrowing in confusion.

"Iruka-kun… where's Tatsu-sama?" she asked.

Iruka regained himself, turning somewhat somber. "Well, about that…"

Meanwhile, said Tatsu was just settling down next to the dark purple barrier that had been erected due to Orochimaru's four elite bodyguards. (And if that sentence doesn't leave itself open for a dirty joke, nothing does.) Tatsu cast his gaze across all four elites, pausing only for an instant to look at the redheaded female Tayuya. The ANBU who had tried in vain to pierce the barrier while Orochimaru and his sensei had begun the battle looked in confusion at the man. Wasn't this man just a commentator?

These expectations were soon to be shattered. Tatsu's whole body began to glow an ethereal blue, but it was just barely visible as he began to take his clothes off for some strange reason. The only things that Tatsu kept on himself were a pair of black shorts and a white tunic; his body continued to glow, and seconds later his body turned transparent as if Tatsu had suddenly turned into a spirit. After giving off a sigh of relief, Tatsu simply walked forward, and in a move that the ANBU swore made Orochimaru's eyes pop out of their skull, Tatsu was able to pass through the barrier, with nothing to indicate that he had done so. An instant later Tatsu's body returned to normal and he sat down cross-legged, hand on his head in a gesture of impatience. He waved his hand at them as if to say 'Don't mind me.'

When five minutes had passed and Tatsu had yet to do anything, the two Kage level Shinobi just decided to go with it. Sarutobi by this time had gotten used to Tatsu's eccentricities. Orochimaru had decided to be his usual paranoid self and kept one beady eye on the lazy looking man while he began to form seals. The technique went off without a hitch, but Orochimaru decided on some 'insurance' just in case the weirdo in the glasses decided to try something.

"Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei!" The snake-man hissed triumphantly.

Three coffins, one after the other, began to rise from the ground. Sarutobi prepared himself, summoning King Enma and readied himself with Bo in hand. Tatsu merely raised an eyebrow behind his sunglasses but if one looked closely, could see that his muscles tensed in anticipation. In vain, Sarutobi tried to force the coffins back into the ground, but it was to no avail and all three were able to rise up. The covers popped and three men emerged.

The first was a long haired brunette with lines ingrained into his face that if one looked properly, they could see a faint resemblance to certain members of the Uchiha clan; this was the amazing man who used wood Ninjutsu and could suppress the powers of Bijuu, Shodaime Hokage. The second was an intense white-haired man who had nearly total control over the element of water and the Shodaime's proclaimed brother, the Nidaime Hokage.

As if fighting Konoha's two founders weren't enough however, it was the third man that Sarutobi was actually became frightened by. With long blonde hair and intense blue eyes, the man who had defeated the Kyuubi no Kitsune stepped forward and Yondaime Hokage looked as if he had just emerged from a terrible nightmare. All three men had wistful smiles on their faces.

"Ah, is that you Saru old friend?" Shodaime asked sadly.

"Yes, Shodaime."

"You've gotten old Saru, but I suppose that's better than what happened to us." Nidaime remarked.

"Ojisan," the Fourth began "How is Naruto?"

At this question, Tatsu lost his lazy composure in seconds and like lighting, rose to deliver a haymaker onto the famed Hokage's face. He took off his ever present shades and for the first time anyone could remember, his face looked truly angry. Tatsu's eyes radiated with a cold fury that the ninja who had been there could only associate with the time and feel of the Kyuubi no Kitsune's attack on Konoha. A small trickle of blood emerged from Yondaime's nose and he tenderly touched it, as if he couldn't believe what he was feeling. Although the Konoha nin were gazing in shock at what the man had done, Tatsu's focus was squarely on the blonde Hokage.

"You of all people have NO RIGHT to ask about MY SON!" he growled.

Orochimaru wasted no time and hurriedly placed the control tags into the skulls of all three Hokage. The three Hokage all gained looks of complacency and formed handseals. Tatsu stepped forward and cracked his knuckles in anticipation. Sarutobi looked astonished at the man.

"Tatsu-san… you're going to help me here?" He said in disbelief.

Tatsu nodded. "I'm pretty sure you can handle two of them. I do not wish to disrespect Shodaime or Nidaime, but you are one of Naruto's first precious people Hokage-sama, and as his father, it's my job to try and make sure that he remains happy." Tatsu's gave a rather odd looking smirk. " That, and I've wanted to pound on blondie over there for a VERY long time." Tatsu smirked.

"Why? Yondaime was one of our greatest heroes Tatsu-san! Why would you want to hurt him?" Sarutobi asked in desperation.

Tatsu was silent for a moment. "The reason I would want to hurt him… is a triple S-class secret even you don't know, Hokage-sama." Tatsu stopped to put on a pair of leather gloves. "Let's just say that my son had a cursed existence even before the Kyuubi had even thought about Konoha. To give you an example… it's similar to what happened to Yamato-san."

Sarutobi's eyes widened, gaining an inkling of an idea. If it were true, the corruption in his ninja ranks extended far deeper than he had thought.

Tatsu stood to face Yondaime, making a fighting stance as if to taunt the blonde into coming right to him. All three Hokage charged, and the battle was on.

In the meantime, the 'Kyuunin' as Kakashi had dubbed them were beginning to prove their worth to a group of more senior ninja who had started to defend the village, but were now staring awestruck at what these KIDS were accomplishing.

Team ten was displaying a great amount of teamwork; Shikamaru hurriedly used Kagemane no Jutsu to subdue various groups of Oto and Suna nin, changing every few seconds when Chouji had finished with them. Senior nins were cut, pounded, minced, broken and beaten and Chouji was now moving at a speed that no one had thought an Akimichi would be capable of. Currently their body total was at thirty ninja and was continuing to rise. By this time, Shikamaru had run out of Chakra and stopped to take a soldier pill while Chouji and Ino covered him. Shikamaru hurriedly shoved the pill into his mouth and began chewing, making sure that he jumped into a nearby bush to conceal himself. Shikamaru's body shook with surprise when someone yanked him by the shirt backwards and his eyes widened tensely.

"Shika, it's just me!" Ino whispered.

All of the tension that had accumulated left Shikamaru's body with a sigh of relief. Ino had hid him into a fairly tall tree; the blonde put her index finger to her lips in a gesture indicating silence. Ino smirked and pointed towards a large congregation of enemies; putting all of her strength into one pitch forward, Ino threw a bulbous looking plant into the center which exploded into a poisonous gas, although the effects were not immediately apparent. The results of this attack could only be described as pure chaos.

Five of the enemies below shuddered for a second and lowered their heads. While the other Oto-nins looked frantically around to find the source of the unexpected attack, the five who had been doused with the poison began to show signs of acute aggression. Their eyes became bloodshot, veins pulsed in their arms and a haze of red Chakra began appearing around these five nins. With a chorus of bestial roars, the five affected ninja became berserkers, maddeningly shredding skin, cracking bone and leaking blood. In seconds, nearly every single one of the enemies had been killed. The remaining enemies worried Shikamaru though, as they remained in a berserker state and began charging towards a group of Konoha-nins. Ino however, didn't seem to be worried as she held out a single hand and was apparently counting down, as after every second one of her outstretched fingers would lower until finally, as the last finger lowered, the berserkers all fell, dead. Shikamaru gaped in astonishment.

"Ino… what was that thing?" He asked.

Ino smirked in a cocky fashion. "An Ino original called the Berserker Bulb. A great tool for wreaking havoc on enemy armies and bandits, and just one in a series of biological weapons I've created!" She gazed at the shadow user intensely and Shikamaru sweated nervously. After two seconds Ino appeared to be satisfied and unexpectedly carried him off.

"Come on, Chouji might need some help!"

When Ino had finally set him down and began attacking again, Shikamaru's eyes widened again. Either his eyes were playing tricks on him, or Ino had just summoned a gigantic Venus Flytrap that was now happily taking bites out of the humungous snakes that had been making short work of the village. As Shikamaru felt his Chakra return to him, the pill having digested, he sighed and could only think of one thing that summarized his feelings on the matter.

"Women are so troublesome."

At the same time, Team Eight was working their own brand of magic. After having helped the civilians in the area evacuate, Hinata, Shino and the temporarily dubbed 'Kibamaru' were doing just what Naruto had instructed them to before and were going bum wild.

Kibamaru was sprinting on all fours at a pace that left afterimages in his wake. With the weaker ninja Kiba would simply slash various vital spots and then move on to the next in a zig-zag pattern of sorts. Shino's bugs would aid in subduing these enemies, but for the higher level ninjas Kiba would pause; after crouching down on all fours, Kiba would literally barrel through his enemies in a far improved version of the normal Tsuuga technique. Although plenty of the older ninja had seen the abilities which normal Inuzuka clan members were able to employ on the battlefield, they had never seen an Inuzuka put giant holes in the centers of human bodies. Stopping to retreat in the shadow of a building, Kibamaru panted and chomped down on piece of jerky that he had kept. As he munched and regained some energy, Kiba closed his eyes. A presence was creeping up on him, but Kiba merely smiled as if he had no cares in the world and shoved a kunai through the arm of the person who had attempted to kill him.

"Either Sound ninja really suck, we're just that good, or it's a mix of both." Kiba mused to himself idly.

Hinata was soon proving that despite her soft nature as a person, she was just as dangerous as her comrades on the field. With her Byakugan constantly switched on, Hinata flowed like water, having enemies come to her. As they tried in vain to hurt the Hyuuga heiress, Hinata would dodge or block each and every attack, always coming back with a punch, strike, kick or a shock to the system for particularly troublesome enemies. While Chouji had managed to recover from her Impact blows in their fight, Hinata didn't hold back against her enemies the same way she had for her friend. Various Chuunin and even weaker Jounin found their punches being mysteriously absorbed; afterwards they would often find themselves coughing up blood or clutching their bleeding hearts as they collapsed into a heap. While it was fairly certain that when this was over she would quiver into a sobbing mess, that had no place in a war situation and Hinata constantly concentrated on focusing herself.

Shino was finally managing to show off the fruits of his labors under Naruto and Tatsu. While Shino didn't have nearly as much Chakra as some of the more physical ninja in Konoha, Naruto had managed to teach him the basic theory towards making Kage versions of things and beings. Having figured this out, Shino formed a few seals, his kikai swarming around him.

"Kikai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Shino spoke in a monotone.

To the surprise of the enemies he was fighting at the time, Shino's Kage Kikai retreated from their master, not giving his enemies a second thought. Shino appeared panicked for a moment (at least as panicked as he COULD look) and visibly trembled as the enemies drew closer, smirks adorning their faces. Shino formed another seal, and too late, the group of Genin/Chuunin who had charged Shino noticed that they had tiny single Kikai bugs on various body parts.

"Bakuhatsu!"

Explosions formed on every enemy in the first group who had tried to hurt Shino and bodies dropped like dead flies, each one moaning in agony. A second group who had held back were preparing a mass fire jutsu while Shino summoned the living Kikai back into his body. Shino then went into a strange looking Taijutsu stance; a blaze of fire shaped like a dragon blazed forward and it looked as if the Aburame had been burnt to a crisp. However, when the flames and smoke cleared, the enemy ninja realized too late that it was merely an afterimage. One of the Oto-nin let out a moan as he was stabbed in the stomach and his 'comrades' threw a hail of kunai and shuriken in his direction. While the blades did ensure that the man was dead, they had aimed at yet another transparent afterimage of Shino, which appeared almost invisible.

In seconds, another man was decapitated, a second was stabbed in the heart and a third went down from a hail of punches and kicks. With all of the enemy ninja down, Shino stopped and panted. The Aburame was tired, but flushed with success.

"Tatsu-san, Naruto-shishou… the Dance of the Dragonfly was successful." Shino spoke to himself.

While Team 7 was currently nowhere to be seen, Gaara was surprisingly more bloodthirsty and powerful without Shukaku's insane ramblings than he was with them. His 'Ultimate Defense' was still strong, but it was quite different from what the Suna and Oto nin he fought were expecting. This was no mere shield of sand; rather, Gaara himself literally WAS the sand. Seeing as how most of the ninja he fought didn't know any Suiton jutsu, Gaara was having an absolute ball. His sinister smile grew wider and wider as ninja dumb or brave enough to fight him tried stabbing, cutting, blasting, roasting, blowing and pounding, but simply nothing worked on Gaara. After about ten minutes of this Gaara grew very bored and decided to finish off as many as he could. Gaara slammed a palm onto the grassy plain they were standing on, and to the astonishment of his enemies, the ground beneath Gaara began… dying. The ground turned soft and the grass grew limp, everything beneath the former psychotic turning into gleaming white sand. The sand began billowing around Gaara over, around and inside him. Gaara was merciless and was quick to suffocate whichever enemy he came across with Sand lodged in their throats. Gaara was literally a force of nature, finally letting off intense sand storms which buried hapless Chuunin and Jounin. Others were tossed around and buffeted, and many of the remaining enemies close to Gaara were either running away or in truly humiliating cases, wetting their pants.

Temari and Kankuro who had been in the stands with their jaws dropping, glanced at each other for reassurance. Coming to a mutual agreement, they both shrugged and realized that this was a doomed battle from the start. Temari grabbed her fan and Kankuro unwrapped Karasu, both chasing after more Sound-nins. It was pretty clear at this point that the intelligence Orochimaru had given them had been incredibly faulty, the Snake-Sannin's troops were the worst ninja ever produced in recent memory, and that if Temari and Kankuro were to stay out of the sidelines now it would be far more beneficial than trying to match one of those Konoha monsters.

While all of this had been going on, the Raikage and his small entourage which consisted of a group of ANBU and Raiden's team, finally snapped out of a daze they had put themselves in, trying to decide if they should take sides. Raiden, despite being a Genin, had made the winning argument.

"Raikage-sama, do you see that only seven children from Konoha have taken out almost a hundred of their enemy?" Raiden asked patronizingly.

"Yes…"

"So, wouldn't it be very beneficial to Kumo to have access to the training methods which made such powerhouses?" Raiden continued.

The Raikage nodded. "You are correct Raiden. With only a few more years time, it would be far better to have Konoha's aid than to have unnecessary loss of life. Very well; we shall aid Konoha in this battle, but only sign a treaty of neutrality afterwards. Politics wouldn't allow a treaty of peace so soon."

Raiden rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well when I'm Raikage, things will be different. Still, it is fine for now, Raikage-sama."

With a signal, Raiden, the Raikage, and their Kumo-ANBU all joined the battle. Team Seven had silently been watching the affairs going on, and crowed in triumph.

"Looks like we don't have to convince Raiden-san after all, eh guys?" Sakura said gleefully. The three ninja had quickly leapt down, now tracking down Tri-Edge to see about his help as well.

Team Seven had barely made it to the sick bay entrance, when they were stopped by the sight of both Tri-Edge and the Mizukage. To the shock and astonishment of Sasuke and Sakura, Tri-Edge's eyes had lost their soulless look and he was now smiling warmly at their de facto team leader. Naruto simply smiled back, as if he was expecting something such as this to happen; however, what happened next was something he would never have imagined in his wildest dreams. He felt a pair of arms encircle him and Naruto was engulfed into the embrace of the beautiful Mizukage. She whispered something so quietly that only Naruto could hear it.

"Thank you for returning my son."

Never having had felt the love of a mother before, Naruto began to choke up, but regained himself soon enough.

"Do not worry." He whispered throatily. "Such is the duty of the Muhi clan."

Both people separated after a moment's hesitation, and both the Mizukage and Tri-Edge bowed to Tatsu's protégé.

"If you need it, we would be honored to help defend those whom you hold dear."

Tri-Edge spoke for the first time anyone could remember, but Naruto seemed to take it in stride. He nodded as if he would appreciate the gesture, and Tri-Edge turned as if to leave. The Mizukage gained a hearwrenching look upon her face and put a hand upon his shoulder.

"Kite, please don't go! I cannot lose you again, not so soon after having gotten you back!" she sobbed.

Naruto couldn't help it. When he saw the look upon the Mizukage's face, so full of longing and anxiety for her son, only one course of action remained that he could think of. If he couldn't have his own mother, he would ensure that Tri-Edge's remained happy. Naruto removed the sunglasses which marked members of the Muhi clan that had truly mastered the clan's arts. By doing so, he 'unsealed' his power.

Sasuke had also noticed the look of sadness in the woman's eyes, and was reminded forcefully of his own mother. Sasuke bowed his head while Tri-Edge struggled in his mother's grip. Sasuke's head came back up and he shared a look with Naruto. Both nodded, with Sakura silently supporting their decision.

"Don't worry Mizukage-sama, we'll keep him safe." Naruto promised. The woman's face became joyous once more and she let go of her son at last. She smiled at all three of them, then gained a determined look as she unsheathed a long silver katana and began to join the battle ahead. The four Genin formed up and did the same. As they did so, Sasuke noticed idly what was going on within the barrier nearby.

"Naruto… isn't that Tatsu-san fighting the Yondaime?" he asked incredulously.

Naruto didn't pause to stare. "Sensei can take care of himself Sasuke, it's the old man I'm more worried about."

Both of his teammates gained a sweatdrop in exasperation. "I don't think that's what Sasuke-kun meant Naruto-kun." Sakura said.

88

Tatsu was indeed fighting the Yondaime as this happened. The blonde was proving his name as Konoha's Yellow Flash as he continually appeared and reappeared in flashes of light, trying to land a hit on his erstwhile opponent. Tatsu was having none of it though, and seemed to be merely dodging until he could find an opening, lazily leaning back every time the Yondaime tried to attack.

Finally, at the twentieth or so time that Yondaime had rematerialized, Tatsu leapt onto the man's front. With his legs pinning down the Yellow Flash's legs, Tatsu's hands grasped the Yondaime's arms. With a sickening jerk and crack, Tatsu had apparently dislocated both of the man's arms. While there was no reaction to the pain, Tatsu momentarily smirked in a satisfied way. His eyes now absolutely feral and his grin bloodthirsty, Tatsu then hurriedly ripped the tag bending the man to Orochimaru's will off and Yondaime's eyes lost their glazed look. Tatsu gave a throaty chuckle as the man looked around, confused.

"You're not going to escape the pain from something as simple as mind control, Yondaime-teme! This is going to seem far worse than what went on in the Shinigami's stomach… da-tte-ba-yo!"

Yondaime's eyes widened and for the first time he could remember, he was actually afraid. As if that hadn't been enough, the crazed man he was now fighting had known the infamous catchphrase he had used during his childhood!

Tatsu wasn't put off however, and sent a fist into the famed Hokage's gut, forcing the man to double over in pain. Another punch came, then a kick, then another and another, and the experience became so painful that Yondaime's world became pain. As Tatsu became increasingly agitated, his aura began to turn a darker shade of lavender that was almost black, and a small maroon circle appeared on his forehead. After around the thirtieth blow he had laid upon the Yondaime, Tatsu finally stopped. The Yondaime was temporarily left bloody and bruised, but Tatsu wasn't done.

His eyes now positively glowing with murderous intent, Tatsu lifted the Yondaime's head up to meet his, both staring into the others eyes. Tatsu snarled and the circle on his forehead was beginning to throb, sounding like a heartbeat to one who heard it at a close enough distance.

"NOW YONDAIME, YOU SHALL EXPERIENCE THE VERY PAIN AND DARKNESS THAT YOUR BELOVED VILLAGE HAS WROUGHT!"

Tatsu's aura seeped into the man in a similar fashion to what had happened to Gaara with Ryu. Unlike Ryu however, Tatsu's focus remained and no injuries appeared on him. The same could not be said of Yondaime however. As the very last of Tatsu's aura seeped into him, the blonde let off a blood curdling scream that made everyone in the village take notice. Every single ninja paused in the battle as the scream came out of nowhere, chilling most to their very souls, wondering what on earth could do such a thing to a man.

The Yondaime continued this wail of horror for almost five minutes straight. When he finished, he was truly defeated. His body was a quivering mess, shaking and tears leaking in a never-ending flood down his eyelids. Tatsu stood up, satisfied now.

"You have paid for your sins, Yondaime-san. You should know though, that your legacy will make everything you accomplished seem meaningless. That I can be sure of." He paused, taking pity on the man. "When a man has paid for his crimes, he deserves some stipulation. I shall give you a gift, and send you back to your wife in heaven."

Yondaime's lone eye that still functioned looked confused. Tatsu seemed to read his thoughts as he responded.

"Why? Why would I hurt you one moment and help you the next? Well, truth be told…I don't think my son would want me to be so heartless as to send you back to the stomach of a Shinigami."

The Yondaime relaxed, and as Tatsu readied an energy charged punch, he could hear only one thing that the man was thinking. The punch landed, and the corpse of the man who had been drafted to serve as the blonde Hokage's body literally disintegrated into the tiniest of molecules. Tatsu stood up, the words of the strongest of the Hokages echoing through his mind.

"_Thank you."_

000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Naruto and his traveling team had now come across a bit of a snag. Five Oto Jounin had now surrounded their position and things did NOT look good. Sasuke gave his teammates a look which they had come to understand after months of working with him. The look mainly meant that he was going to try something and that they should be prepared to take advantage of the situation. Naruto and Sakura nodded, while Tri-Edge did his best to go with it, though still somewhat confused.

"Doton: Filament Skin technique!"

Sakura formed a series of seals and the Jounin tensed as if preparing to dodge an attack, as Sasuke formed the Tora (Tiger) seal. Sakura planted her palms down on the center of Sasuke's body and a series of glass-like plates, hexagonal in shape covered Sasuke's entire body, visible by what had been seen on his face, legs and arms. Sasuke smirked in anticipation.

"Katon: Human Torch technique! FLAME ON!"

To even Naruto's astonishment, Sasuke's body burst into flame and what was even stranger was that he wasn't moaning in agony from being burned. Twin jets of flame leapt forward from Sasuke's hands and engulfed two surprised Jounin in their heat. One of the ninja had managed to escape using Kawarimi no Jutsu, but the other was utterly burnt to ashes. The flames died down as Sasuke formed the Ram seal, panting in exhaustion. Sakura unsealed her handiwork as well, handing her teammate a soldier pill. Naruto nodded in thanks as Sakura supported their teammate while he recovered.

Unexpectedly, one of the Oto Jounin came out of nowhere and managed to pierce the back of Naruto's shoulder. As Tatsu's protégé cried out in agony, the kunai he had been struck with was plucked out. Naruto glanced behind him and noticed Tri-Edge's gleaming blades sticking out of the Jounin who had almost pierced his heart. With his two teammates out of commission at the moment, Naruto and Tri-Edge were now outnumbered three-to-two. That being said, Naruto decided that now was a time to even the odds. His eyes blazed lavender and his aura burst forth in a similar fashion to what he had done against Lee in the preliminaries.

"Limiters one through three… remove!"

The explosion of Naruto's unleashed aura was almost equivalent to a concentrated burst of C4. While it did no physical damage, the feel of the aura could be felt for half a mile around. A lavender dot appeared on Naruto's forehead, and he closed his eyes. When they opened, to him it felt as though time had stopped. For everyone else, it seemed as if Naruto had disappeared. While this had been going on, the three Oto-Jounin were preparing an attack of immense proportions.

"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

"Doton: Doryuudan no Jutsu!"

"Katon: Karyuudan no Jutsu!"

Three immense dragons, each made up of a different element, streaked forward towards Naruto's position. Naruto had now shocked his teammates by literally floating towards the location where the dragons would meet. His eyes blazed, and a huge outcropping of mud and rock rose from the ground and quickly shielded the four Genin. The three dragons hit, and the wall just barely managed to shield Naruto and his teammates before crumbling into dust. The three Oto nins looked exhausted but triumphant as they believed they had fulfilled Orochimaru's orders. Unfortunately, after the dust had settled, their eyes widened in shock as Naruto floated off the ground, unharmed.

The young Muhi's eyes flashed again and he gestured his palms upward and then crossed his arms together. His teammates gazed nonplussed as the kunai and shuriken which had been concealed in the pouches of the three Jounin were taken out of their pouches by invisible hands and pierced themselves straight through their owner's bodies. The three Jounin's forms were soon bloodied and they collapsed. Naruto took a deep breath and the aura evaporated almost at once. Naruto returned to normal, sweat adorning his brow but with a pleased smile. He gave a look to both Sasuke and Tri-Edge, both of whom were now ready for another go.

"Well guys, it looks like the score is three to one to one. Look's like you'll have to work hard if you want to beat me!" Naruto grinned.

Sasuke and Tri-Edge were nonplussed for a second, but then both grinned cockily.

"You got lucky Muhi, nothing more." Sasuke smirked. Tri-Edge nodded in agreement.

As the three boys jumped off towards another battle, Sakura hastily followed them, a scowl adorning her pretty face.

"Men!" she scoffed in disgust.

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While Sarutobi had been too busy to pay attention to this particular fight (you try fighting the First and Second Hokages at the same time and getting distracted!) Orochimaru had witnessed it and began feeling a growing sense of horror as the stranger began pounding on the man whom he had never been able to lay a hand on in a single fight. Deciding that it was better to get rid of the problem sooner rather than later, Orochimaru began to seep into the tile ground, getting closer to his target.

Tatsu had relaxed his posture after having defeated the Yondaime, and Orochimaru decided that this was the moment to strike. Swiftly leaping out of the shadows, the Snake Sannin propelled his serpentine tongue forward, inches towards piercing the man's heart. Too late however, as Tatsu, in one fluid step, grabbed the man's sword and used the leverage and momentum behind him to throw Orochimaru onto the other side. Tatsu grasped the Kusanagi by it's blade, and despite the fact that it was now cutting into his hand, shoved it's hilt into the Snake Sannin's head, crushing it into the roof. Orochimaru's tongue lolled and Tatsu grasped the sword firmly in hand. Visibly shaking, Orochimaru now formed a seal.

The two Hokage had stopped in the middle of their fight with Sarutobi and were now coming to the aid of their 'master'. Tatsu quickly turned around and with a flourish, decapitated both Kage. Before they died, they smiled, free of Orochimaru's control. Now enraged, the Snake Sannin leapt like a cobra at Tatsu, hundreds of snakes forming out of his sleeves.

Tatsu's eyes widened, but a gout of flame had emerged and burned the snakes. Sarutobi, panting, smiled triumphantly.

"You see Orochimaru? You can never defeat those with the will of fire. The power to protect will always be stronger than the power of selfish ambition. Tatsu-san, I think it's time I put an end to that ambition, please stand back."

Tatsu smirked. "No need, Ojisan."

Orochimaru's eyes widened as he felt a momentary feeling of pain. To his horror, Orochimaru now noticed that his beloved Kusanagi, now being sheathed into a scabbard, had amputated one of his beloved arms. The stump bleeding from lack of arm, Orochimaru weakly sounded out the order to retreat. Tatsu however, merely took out his communicator and spoke into it.

"Muhi Corps members… disable enemies known as Sound Four and return prisoners to base, do you copy?"

"Yokai!" Three voices chirped.

Orochimaru's ground troops, or what little that remained of them, were hurriedly running away as fast as their chicken-shit butts could carry them. The Sound Four hurried to catch up to their master, but were stopped by five people. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Tri-Edge, Anko and her partner had all taken the four by surprise and moved quickly. Anko and Sasuke used a jutsu which formed a gelatinous mass and trapped both Kidomaru and Jirobu after Sakura had disabled them with Senbon. Naruto's eyes shone their bright lavender color and seemed to hypnotize both Sakon and Ukon into a lull. Finally, in a move similar to Jiraiya's Hari Jizou technique, Anko's partner bound Tayuya by strengthening and enhancing her long dark hair. Tri-Edge had apparently been taught the use of Senbon as well, and those present could only hear one work from Tayuya before things went black for her.

"Kin?"

A/N: Now for the other stuff. Yes, Sasuke did take inspiration from his move from the Human Torch (of Fantastic Four fame) but I figured that as a fire ability it was too cool not to develop. Sasuke's version is based on the Ultimate universe version of the Human Torch, but the technique is only possible due to advanced elemental manipulation that can only be maintained for a few seconds at most and with Sakura's help.

Every other one of the new moves was entirely original. Shino's 'Dance of the Dragonfly' is based on recent dragonfly findings, namely that dragonflies actually can make themselves look invisible due to speed. Nature is full of wondrous creatures, isn't it?

I do realize that certain attack names are not written in Japanese and for that I apologize. Unfortunately I only have a small grasp of Japanese at the moment so I don't know how to translate certain attacks.

In the next chapter, Tatsu explains his reasons for being angry at Yondaime, decisions are made, rest is had, people are made Chuunin, a funeral happens and Akatsuki appears!

Finally, I know that the majority of you seem to really enjoy this story, but what I'd really like to know is which parts specifically in the chapters or individual favorite parts. Getting positive feedback usually only happens to me when I write (almost never in RL I'm afraid) and I take all I can get.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and I hope to get the next one out fairly soon.

Tatsu


	17. Tatsu's anger! Naruto's secret origin!

It had been only a few weeks since Orochimaru's attack on Konohagakure no Sato, yet it would soon prove host to another attack, this one smaller yet no less devastating. The dust had settled, and the enemy having almost completely retreated. Konoha was silent… for now. In the foothills above the hurt village, a pair of infamous oinin stood impassively, as if waiting for the right moment to strike.

"It's been quite a while since you've been here. Are you sure that you hold no sentimental thoughts for your old village?" A gravelly voice asked in an amused fashion.

"None." The voice that answered held little to no emotion.

"We have two targets, right, Itachi-san?"

"Hai."

"Well then, let's prepare ourselves, shall we?"

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In this days following the attack on Konohagakure no Sato, a somber mood perforated the atmosphere tangibly. Almost no one laughed or smiled as the people, ninja and civilian alike, didn't feel as if that was the best way to honor the dead and aid the wounded. It was unfortunate that these people hadn't heard the saying 'laughter is the best medicine', such a thing would most likely have made a difference in the morale of the Shinobi force especially. Five days had passed since the attack, and preparations were being made to honor those who had needlessly died for a terrible man's selfish ambition.

Although the presence of the talented Kyuunin and the remaining two loyal Sannin had aided tremendously in the defense of Konoha, the fact remained that the village sustained many casualties. More than twenty five percent of Konoha's ninja force had died and an additional thirty percent had been wounded. Some had been let off with only minor injuries thankfully, but at least ten percent of the ninja had sustained heavy wounds and would most likely be out of action for quite some time. As if this weren't enough, Konoha's medic-nins were being taxed to their limit as more wounded were discovered every day. The hospital was understaffed even with the help of Tsunade and her assistant Shizune, their facilities were inadequate to house the enormous number of wounded forces, and many of the Medic-nin were becoming so exhausted that they were literally falling asleep and finding themselves covered in their own food at mealtimes.

Relief came only a day later thankfully, as Muhi Tatsu had generously donated his own facilities and treatment for the more heavily wounded patients; a method that even Tsunade had only theorized about was used to put these patients into a state of suspended animation within a cold cryogenic stasis while a group of 'miracles machines' as Tatsu dubbed them were used to go inside the bodies of patients and delicately heal them. Unfortunately, not even Tatsu was able to save everyone who came in and he grimly had to send at least four ninja back in body bags.

In the meantime, Sandaime, Jiraiya, the Elders and the Konoha ruling council had been locked in meetings for days on end to discuss the future of the village after this atrocity. After a night of rest for the exhausted ninja who had pulled combat duty, most of the ninja learned the meaning of the phrase 'no rest for the weary'. Most able-bodied Jounin and Chuunin were forced to undertake increasing numbers of missions, while the Genin and civilians worked tirelessly to repair and reconstruct that massive amount of damage that had befallen Konoha. Surprisingly, Tatsu did not offer any aid in this endeavor. This could be because he felt a certain animosity to the people of Konoha for their treatment of his son during Naruto's childhood, but he was silent on the matter when anyone asked. Naruto felt that his mentor hadn't done as much as he could, but at the same time, felt that it would be wrong for the village to lean on his sensei like a crutch. Konoha's inner strength would get them through this crisis, that he was certain.

In the meantime, the Kyuunin were doing what they could to aid in the reconstruction efforts. Chouji had proven to be a tremendous help to various construction crews and repair workers, as his Bubun Baika no Jutsu, combined with his immense strength, made it quite easy to place material and jobs that would have taken weeks were reduced to days. Chouji would frequently do his best to keep this state up for as long as possible in order to build stamina. Inspired by this example, many of his comrades found ways to improve their own skills, while at the same time helping the reconstruction effort.

With precise Chakra control, Ino and Sakura were able to lodge wood and stone into place using their plants and Chakra weapons respectively. Hinata pounded nails in using Jyuuken strikes as an exercise designed to strengthen blows, Sasuke's fire abilities made excellent welding tools and Shino's Kikai were excellent at disposing of compost. The others mainly did what they could, often wearing weights while helping the efforts and strengthening themselves.

While a somber mood did engulf most of Konoha and its people, there was hope to be found. Amongst the ashes of the dead, a phoenix would soon arise to help combat the looming darkness…

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After a few days, Naruto had decided that it would be a good idea to see how all of his opponents in the Chuunin exams, whether friend or foe had been able to survive.

Neji and Lee had proven that they were quite skilled and thankfully neither was in the hospital. Naruto eagerly agreed to a rematch with Lee at a later date as he greatly respected the boy's work ethic, despite his terrible sense of aesthetics.

Gaara and his brother Kankuro had also done well for themselves in the invasion. As expected, Gaara hadn't been injured in the slightest and Kankuro was able to conceal himself and attack unsuspecting Oto-nin fairly easily.

Their teammates however, had not been so lucky. Tenten had suffered a mild concussion, as well as many bumps, bruises and even some cracked bone in her fight with Sakura. Temari by contrast had gotten hit by a powerful Earth jutsu and was currently in the Konoha hospital being treated for a broken leg and several broken ribs.

Naruto had felt somewhat guilty of Tenten's state as he had helped Sakura perfect her techniques and he also felt that Temari could do with some cheering up as well. Several people still treated the Suna siblings with distrust after the invasion, but thankfully that didn't get in the way of medical professionals doing their jobs. When Naruto had asked, he learned that both girls had been put together in a single room.

When Naruto reached the room that the two were being kept in, he noticed that both girls were asleep. Sighing, Naruto took out a pair of gifts behind his back with a flourish and left the two on the bedside tables beside each Kunoichi. He smiled softly at both of them and quietly left the room.

About an hour later, both girls woke up sleepily and let out simultaneous noises of surprise. Temari had gotten a beautiful set of ornamental fans which had the kanji for 'beauty', 'intelligence', 'trust' and 'strength'. Temari was confused at why 'trust' was one of the kanji, but she still oozed with pleasure at the thoughtful gift, idly picking up the card that was with it.

Tenten, by contrast, had received a lovely ornamental Tanto blade. The blade was engraved with the kanji for 'ability', 'sniper', 'ingenuity' and also 'beauty' as well as Tenten's full name, which was especially surprising to the girl. Surprising because almost no one save the Hokage knew her real name and whoever had crafted this must have gone to an awful lot of trouble for it. She also glanced down at her own card.

Meanwhile, similar packages were being delivered to Sakura, Hinata and Ino.

Sakura had received a gift that she wouldn't have thought possible unless she had seen if for herself; Naruto had given her a seed to plant in a patch of earth that he had delivered to her room (the earth had been in a box of course) and after the plant had gotten a little water and sunlight, it had magically blossomed into a full-bloom Sakura-tree. Sakura had squealed with absolute delight when she had gotten the gift.

Hinata, constantly worried about the state of affairs in her family, had been given something that had taken less time, but was something that she had deeply appreciated all the same. Now that Hinata had a good possibility of becoming Chuunin, the Hyuuga elders were talking of putting her sister Hanabi in the Hyuuga branch house and despite her sister's angry façade, she knew that Hanabi was deeply afraid of the possibility. To help with this, Naruto delivered a special pendant which only Hinata and Hanabi could see which acted just like Tatsu's special keys. Whenever Hanabi wished, she now had a place to stay without fear of persecution in Havenwood. A visibly relieved Hinata then went to scour the village, looking for the incredibly sweet young man.

Ino's gift wasn't quite as expensive as the others, but she deeply appreciated it all the same. A bouquet of flowers was delivered to her, having been taken from the same gardens which Hinata normally obtained the flowers for her hobby back at Havenwood. What especially impressed Ino however, was that it seemed as if Naruto had studied the various meanings of the flowers and she deeply appreciated the meanings behind them. He had included a special card which thankfully had explained the true meanings of these, due to the fact that some of these flowers had multiple meanings. An Azalea had been given to show that he saw her as not a girl, but a woman; A white Camellia to show that she was adorable; A white Chrysanthemum for truth in his feelings, a red Carnation for admiration, a Daisy for purity, a Lily for beauty, a white Rose for innocence, a white Zinnia for goodness, a yellow Zinnia to show that he remembered her every day, and a variegated Tulip which meant that she had beautiful eyes. The last two flowers puzzled her however; Naruto in his message insisted that they had nothing to do with what he thought of her, but she should still pay attention to them. There had been Pine for Hope, and a Peony for shame. Ino wondered idly what Naruto would have to be ashamed of, but that was before she read the rest of the message.

All five girls had been given the same basic message:

_All of you ladies have been very good to me and I find my feelings for all of you becoming stronger. Though I know some of you better than others, I feel that I should give a chance to all those whom I have affection for. I do not wish this to become a competition. It is possible that all of you may be picked or none deepening on how you ladies feel. I just wish for all of you to give me a chance at a courtship._

_Sincerely, Muhi Naruto_

The rest of that day, all five girls had thought about the message. Rather than anger or disgust however, all of them were simply confused. Simply put, they were wondering what Naruto meant by 'all of them'. Since it was fairly sure that Naruto himself wouldn't give them answers (as is the want for men in a relationship), they went to the next best thing.

And as a door opened, all five girls couldn't help but giggle as they noticed that Muhi Tatsu slept in boxers with little chibi-dragons on them. He was in for a very rude awakening…

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A week had passed since the battle had been won. A funeral had been held, the dead had been honored and life went on despite a brief pang of bitterness within people's hearts that would never truly go away. Now that things had settled down, a meeting would soon be held. The last two who needed to be at this meeting however had yet to show up. To the disgust of the Elders, they had been given gofer duty and were now approaching the two important men, who happened thankfully to be together. As the elders Koharu and Homura approached the two, they could hear a disturbing giggle coming from the one in front with a disgusted snort coming from the second person behind him.

"Honestly Jiraiya, you're pathetic!" Muhi Tatsu scoffed "You spend all day doing nothing but staring at girls and gaining 'inspiration' for those stupid manga of yours. I like manga more than the next guy, but you've got to rethink your priorities."

Jiraiya scoffed back in response. "And what, may I ask, is more important?"

"Well, what about hooking up with a woman and at least getting the possibility of sex and love as opposed to only looking at it? I mean seriously, it's seems like cowardice. You spend day after day gazing at the forbidden fruit, but never try to pick the stem off for yourself!"

One of Jiraiya's eyes ticked and a vein began pulsing in his forehead. "Really? Well, if you're such a ladies man, why don't you prove it?"

Tatsu smirked. "All right then. I'm sensing both a man and a woman approaching us Jiraiya. I'll kiss that woman with my eyes closed, and if I manage to make her want me from just that kiss, you have to be my personal slave for a week and do whatever I ask."

Jiraiya put a finger to his chin in contemplation. "Well, in that particular case, I think that if you were to wager such a thing, than I think I'm entitled to the same thing, Tatsu."

Tatsu nodded, putting a finger to his lips conspiratorially. He felt the female presence approach closer and closer, closed his eyes, turned and gave a kiss to a very surprised woman. After about five seconds, Tatsu realized that something wasn't quite right. He opened his eyes.

Tatsu's eyes widened to near impossible levels as he finally realized what he was doing. He hurriedly pushed Elder Koharu off himself and gazed at his hands, trembling, until he passed out. A purple aura engulfed Tatsu for a brief second after he passed out. Koharu gazed at the man in wonder while Homura could only gape in shock. Koharu grew pensive and she looked adoringly at the white-haired man with a blush on her face.

Normally Jiraiya would have found this situation hilarious. However, before he began to laugh, he remembered the bet the two of them had made and cursed silently to himself. Picking up Tatsu's prone body, Jiraiya sighed and followed the Elders down into the halls of the Hokage tower.

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Thankfully, by the time they had managed to make it down to the meeting room Tatsu seemed to have recovered from his little 'seduction' and was now staring impassively with his arms crossed from the near back of the room. Jiraiya gazed at the man and was surprised to see that despite Koharu's fleeting glances in his direction, Tatsu either didn't care or something very strange was going on. Jiraiya shrugged; he could worry about Tatsu's eccentricities after the meeting.

Glancing across the room could see an assembly of senior ninja that hadn't been seen since Kumo's near abduction of Hyuuga Hinata. While of course the Sandaime and the Elders were there (as they had been the Hokage's teammates since childhood), also in attendance were Tsunade, the original Ino-Shika-Chou trio, the heads of the Aburame, Inuzuka and Hyuuga clans, as well as various other dignitaries from Konoha's civilian population and even the Fire Country Daimyo himself to Jiraiya's shock.

After everyone had been assembled, Sarutobi held his hand up for silence and rose to take the floor. The man known as 'The Professor' cleared his throat.

"Good day to you all. I have assembled you all here today because I wished to inform you and seek advice on the future of Konoha and to answer a few questions I have been unable to answer over the past few days up until now. It is one of these questions which I believe we should start the meeting by answering first. However, I cannot answer that question myself so I have brought in the only man who can answer it. Tatsu-san, would you please come here?"

Tatsu nodded silently and approached the center of the floor. Sarutobi sat down, content to let the man speak. Whispers broke out amongst the various people assembled, but Tatsu forcefully held a hand up for silence. Uncharacteristically, he took out both a lighter and a long brown cigar. The cigar was lit and put into Tatsu's mouth as he inhaled the intoxicating flavor of nicotine and breathed out a cloud of smoke.

"Now then, let me introduce myself because it seems as if almost none of you know who I am. My name is Muhi Tatsu; I am not a ninja, nor do I come from this or any other ninja village. However, I do have ties to this village and am willing to do what I can to aid it every now and then. However, before I can answer your question I must give you people a warning."

Tatsu stopped to grasp the cigar firmly and crush it in an open palm. "What I am about to tell you will most likely shock and astonish you. You very likely will not like it, but I guarantee it is the truth. I am only answering what I can and if I want and am doing you a service by even giving in to your petty demands at all. I am not a ninja and am not subject to your laws; you may try to subject some form of petty revenge against my son, who is in your ninja ranks, but doing so would have you all lose quite possibly the greatest source of hope Konoha has in these troubled times. That being said, let's get on topic…"

Out of nowhere, Tatsu took out an enormous hamburger from one of his pockets and began eating. While he talked, Tatsu began to sound rather thick which was both irritating and amusing to various people.

"Now, the question you all want to know is, why did I attack the Yondaime? And for that matter, why was I angry enough to make a man rumored to fear nothing scream like the most tortured of souls?" Tatsu asked the audience.

"The first answer is simple enough. I attacked the man because Sarutobi here is actually a friend of my son and I and I thought he could use some help. Now, the reason I was angry with him is significantly more complicated. It begins with member of the ANBU relatively unknown to any save the people in this room, a man who goes by the name Yamato."

Murmurs broke out in the room. Sarutobi sighed in relief, as Tenzou wouldn't have been happy had Muhi Tatsu revealed his true identity. Undeterred, Tatsu continued.

"Now, Yamato-san was the only successful result in a secret project that was undertaken through genetic engineering in an attempt to revive the abilities that the Shodaime Hokage was gifted with, namely his powers with Mokuton jutsu and his ability to suppress the Bijuu. It was through this method that one of Konoha's most infamous bloodlines was born, but that's another story for another day. Concentrate on the fact that Konoha now had a secret weapon, a loyal ninja who could use the same abilities as its founder. Due to this success, it was natural that certain sorts would want to continue the project."

Jiraiya visibly noticed a few faces in the audience become shocked, others confused. Tsunade in particular looked incredibly angry, as it was likely that her grandfather's resting place had been disturbed without permission. Tatsu continued his story.

"While attempts to replicate the Shodaime's abilities had been successful, it had been impossible to do the same with the Nidaime and Sandaime. Nidaime due to the fact that he had originally been from Kirigakure no Sato and contained secrets that they wanted returned, while Sarutobi over here refused as any decent man should, confident in his strength to defend his village and in his successor. They struck pay dirt though in the form of the Yondaime Hokage and his devastating speed techniques along with his naturally strong body and stamina.

Yondaime was said to be the greatest of all the Hokage, yet he was not. He was undoubtedly the most powerful Hokage in a combat situation, but Yondaime was a far cry from the leaders who had founded and aided Konoha through it's toughest times. He was insecure outside of battle, he grow frustrated occasionally when things didn't go his way, and he often rushed into situations headstrong. All this, and he constantly feared for the safety of his own friends and loved ones. It was this last quality which made me particularly angry with him.

You all know that thirteen years ago, the Yondaime defeated the strongest of all Bijuu, the Kyuubi no Kitsune and sealed it in an infant. However, this was no ordinary infant; how many amongst you questioned why exactly Yondaime chose that specific child? He could have just as easily chosen any newborn at the time for the deed, even orphans from the attack, but he did not. He believed that only someone who had the potential to be as powerful as he was could contain the beast. So he did choose someone like him, someone who was almost exactly like him. An infant who was not born, but created in a test-tube treated like a thing and not a person."

Tatsu paused to finish off the burger. "Yondaime at first was reluctant to go forth with these experiments, yet after he heard of the damage that Kumo had accumulated due to the Nibi no Nekomata, he decided that the cost was worth it. Despite how he may seem, Yondaime was very insecure, and often dreamed that doom would befall those he held dear. Because of this, he was willing to damn a child who had no family, no future and no one to aid him because it would make him feel better to aid the village who praised him, despite not even imagining an attack from a Bijuu. So when the beast arrived and nothing worked on it, he performed the Shiki Fuuin sealing technique, and Uzumaki Naruto was damned to hatred because of one man's selfishness and the darkness that controls the hearts of weak willed people such as many of those in your village Ironically, everyone who worked on the project, and nearly everyone Yondaime cared for had been killed by the Kyuubi.

Six years passed and while depressed myself, I came across young Naruto. Sensing a kindred spirit, I adopted and bonded him into my clan and Muhi Naruto came to Konoha after another six years, willing to forgive despite the cruelties he had endured. So I ask you all, as a father of his son to all of you, is what I did wrong?"

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An oppressive silence fell over the room while Tatsu pulled out a stick of gum and began chewing.

"So, are there any questions?" he asked thickly.

Nearly a dozen hands all shot up at once and Tatsu picked one disinterestedly, acknowledging Hyuuga Hiashi.

"What proof of this do you have, Muhi-san?" the man asked in a controlled voice.

Tatsu nodded to acknowledge this point and turned around. "Am I wrong, Jiraiya?"

All eyes fell upon the legendary Sannin, and Jiraiya's face fell. "I'm sorry to say that I cannot verify the claims that Muhi Naruto is a product of my student's genes, but the Yondaime WAS very paranoid when it came to those he cared for. I trained the boy because I thought he had great talent and that someone who would give their all for the village was needed. I just never thought that my old student was willing to do so much."

Tatsu then stood to acknowledge Morino Ibiki. "I'm curious Tatsu-san, you say that you are no ninja, yet you've managed to uncover information that few if any of us knew. How exactly did you manage to acquire this information?"

Tatsu sighed. "Ibiki-san, you of all people should know that someone who specializes in intelligence should never give away their secrets. Or would you like me to mention to the group the little ritual you do every night before bed?"

The famed unflinching head of the ANBU torture and interrogation department visibly shuddered and paled, shaking his head rapidly.

Finally, Tatsu acknowledged Nara Shikaku for one last question. "Tatsu-san, I am curious, the power used by you and your son has no similar match in ninja history from what I've been able to tell. What exactly is this power? Is it a Kekkei Genkai or something different?"

Tatsu paused, wondering if he should answer the question. However, inspiration struck him at that very moment and he began to word a response.

"The abilities that the Muhi clan possesses are not bound by blood, that I can assure you. However, that being said, the abilities are stronger when you are inducted through my blood, as my son has proven; he is not only a Muhi in name I assure you. As for the power itself, I am afraid that I would like to keep its exact nature to myself. Unfortunately Nara-san, you are actually incorrect. The Muhi clan abilities actually ARE similar to more than one group of abilities from famous ninja clans. As to which ones… well, I like to have my fun and I'm going to keep you all guessing."

Wild speculation ran out amongst the gathered populace with more than a few giving Tatsu a look of resentment or two. Tatsu ignored the looks and took a seat when Sarutobi motioned him to sit down. The old Hokage rose from his chair and addressed the chamber with a piercing gaze.

"Now then, since I believe everyone's curiosity has been abated for now, I'm here to discuss the main matter of the meeting. Over the past few years a problem has made itself readily apparent to me but I pointedly ignored the issue because I believed that it couldn't be solved at the time. However, a week ago, it became clear to me that I couldn't ignore the issue for any longer. Despite the fact that Orochimaru was my student, he would have bested me if I had fought him alone. If it were not for Tatsu-san, I may have died, my soul having gone to the Shinigami's stomach like what happened to the Fourth, and I am profoundly grateful to him for that."

Tatsu waved a hand idly while smiling as if to say it was nothing. Sarutobi continued, getting to the crux.

"Because of that, I believe that it is in the best interests of the village, the ninja and myself to step down from my position as Hokage. The Elders and the esteemed Fire Lord have agreed, and I call this meeting in order to nominate candidates for the position of Godaime Hokage."

Whispers, anxious, disappointed and excited alike began spreading through the room. Despite the fact that it was still early, Yamanaka Inoichi excitedly raised his hand. "I think Jiraiya-sama would be a good choice."

Jiraiya grimaced, opening his mouth as if to refute the statement but the Elders beat him to it. "Unfortunately Yamanaka-san, Jiraiya has already expressed his desire not to be given the position in exchange for aiding the village. That, and we do not feel that he is of sufficient character to be a leader of the village."

Jiraiya's face gained a look that was half-relieved and half-irritated. He began to speak again, but Tatsu butted into the conversation.

"Yeah, I mean if the Ero-Oyaji became Hokage, he could probably pass a new law enforcing Kunoichi to wear a regulation uniform consisting of nothing but a bra and thong and pass it off to 'increase morale'."

Jiraiya's face gained a shocked look and he hurriedly gazed at his old sensei. When Sarutobi nodded grimly, Jiraiya's eyes bugged to a comical size and he collapsed onto the chair in front of him. As if used to these sorts of proceedings, another person raised their hand, undaunted. "I nominate Hyuuga Hiashi-sama." The man said smoothly.

Hiashi stood up proudly, but was interrupted by a loud cough. Tatsu once again became the center of attention, his face in disbelief. "You would really trust this man to be leader of the village when in his own clan proceedings he 'tames' upset members of the Hyuuga branch house by killing their brain cells, essentially forcing them into slavery?" As Hiashi glared at the man with a killing intent that almost no ninja could surpass, Tatsu continued. "That, and he can't even control the old farts who are trying so hard to keep the bloodline 'pure'."

Bedlam erupted in the proceedings and it took a while before order was able to be restored. Hiashi, somewhat shamefaced, glared with full Byakugan eyes at the white haired man. "And I suppose you would make a better choice, Muhi-san?"

Tatsu snorted. "Me? Hokage? I don't think so! I have no love for this village, I'm not a ninja, and the job absolutely sucks! I mean, aside from the occasional war, invasion or S-ranked missing nin, there's almost no action and it's almost entirely meetings and paperwork! The job's more a figurehead than anything else and a single ninja that the other ones all see as a security blanket just in case!" The Sandaime gave Tatsu a wounded gaze, and Tatsu shrugged in apology. "To be honest, I think that best person for the job would be Tsunade-dono, if she was willing."

Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise, then glared at Tatsu. "After you just so negatively described the job, you would think I would want something like that?"

Tatsu shrugged. "Well yeah. I'd be willing to share certain Muhi techniques which would make it so that you could finish those parts really quickly and concentrate on the important stuff or have some time off when you were done."

Tsunade looked at him with suspicion. "And you would only be willing to help me? Why?"

"Because to be honest, you're the only person I'd trust to not abuse the position in some form or another." Tatsu answered simply. "I like people who are only selfish when it comes to personal pleasures, yet don't hurt others to get what they want. It's very rare when you find a person like that with sufficient leader qualities." Tatsu paused for a moment, seeing that Tsunade wasn't entirely convinced of his altruistic motives. He sighed and gave a smile. "That, and I need your help with something, Tsunade."

The room quieted down and the matter was put to a vote. Despite her better judgment, Tsunade was soon sworn in as the Godaime Hokage and history was made.

Almost invisible to those present was the top of a head with two different halves, one white, the other black…

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Now we change the scene of our story. As you probably guessed, the spy who had been present at the meeting had been none other than Akatsuki's resident psychotic, Kusa no Zetsu… well, he was slightly more psychotic than the others at least because he had multiple personality disorder, but to be fair, everyone in Akatsuki was a little psychotic.

Zetsu had reported to the 'leader' his findings and soon, Pein had hurriedly summoned all nine members of the organizations. Shrouded in darkness, the 'leader' stood imposing in the background.

"It's been seven years, hasn't it?" Hoshigaki Kisame mused out loud. "We haven't all gathered together since Orochimaru left the organization."

"I only came here because of leader-sama's orders fish." Sasori growled. "I don't particularly care for your stupid reminiscing!"

Kisame's teeth bared into a snarl and grasped his enormous Samehada, preparing to attack Sasori, consequences be damned. An enormous flare of killing intent stopped both in their tracks as the 'leader' stared at them was a irritated stare.

"Enough, both of you! Zetsu has some important news. It seems as if the last of the Bijuu is not as lost as we thought."

Even Itachi's eyes widened at this statement. Seven years ago, Uzumaki Naruto who had been identified as the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune had vanished without a trace. Most of Akatsuki had assumed he was dead, but the leader had insisted that they remain patient and it seemed as if he had been right all along about the matter. Finally, Deidara was able to snap himself out of his surprise to ask a question.

"So, the Jinchuuriki is still alive… un?" The blonde asked.

Pein nodded. "That is correct. Uzumaki Naruto was apparently taken in by a non-ninja and raised by him. He is now Muhi Naruto and has made much progress, even managing to defeat three Jounin at once. Without the power of the Kyuubi."

Most of the Akatsuki members looked pensive at this. Although they had widened their eyes sure, members of Akatsuki did not get surprised. It was all in their charter, right next to the wooden table where they got drunk and played ping pong… wait, that's a different secret society.

Itachi picked up on something he found curious.

"Leader-sama, when you mean to say non-ninja, don't you mean civilian?" Itachi inquired dispassionately.

Pein shook his head. "No. His adopted father, Muhi Tatsu, is no mere civilian. While he is no ninja, Tatsu is strong enough that he was able to defeat and cripple Orochimaru by himself as well as a resurrected version of the Yondaime Hokage. He now possesses Orochimaru's ring."

While the nine oinin still weren't outright surprised, there were many brows risen and the occasional eye widening. Pein continued, now having the attention of all of them at last.

"To this end, we need more intelligence. Reports indicate that Muhi and the Kyuubi no Jinchuuriki possess a mysterious power unknown to any Shinobi in the world. Itachi, Kisame, as you two are closest to Konoha, you shall travel to the village and gather information on the two. If you can, abduct the Jinchuuriki."

"And what of Muhi?" Itachi asked.

Pein closed his eyes for a second in contemplation. "If he is willing to divulge his secrets, then we would be glad to extend an invitation as a member of the organization. However if he proves defiant, you may terminate him."

Kisame gave a smirk as the images all around them faded away.

"Shall we go, Itachi-san?"

"Aah."

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Three weeks passed and Tsunade was soon inaugurated as the Godaime. Although progress was slow in the areas of reconstruction and regaining the ninja force and funds of the village, progress was nonetheless made. It was increasingly apparent that more talented ninja were needed, which lead to the ceremony which was going on now within the Hokage's office. Those assembled were all Genin who had made it to the finals of the exams, supposedly brought over because of an upcoming promotion. The Genin assembled were all Konoha-nin, as decisions for other villages would be made by their respective leaders. The Kyuunin had already heard that both Raiden and Tri-Edge had been made Chuunin, while a decision regarding Gaara's status was pending. Tsunade gazed warmly at those assembled and began to speak.

"While times have been difficult lately, and we were unable to make decisions for all of the Genin due to the invasion, I am proud to say that Konoha had an exceptional showing this year and many clients who were thinking of changing their business with us had their fears put to rest. Now then, let us induct the new Chuunin of Konoha, proving that from the ashes an even more powerful force shall rise." Tsunade announced. To her right, Tsunade's two Chuunin assistants Izumo and Kotetsu grasped several Chuunin vests and walked forward. Tsunade began to introduce those involved.

"Uchiha Sasuke. In the beginning many of us were anxious and indecisive about inducting you into the Chuunin ranks, despite your skill. However, within the past few months you have managed to quell those fears and prove that you can be an effective leader. I am glad to award you the rank of Chuunin!"

Although Sasuke guessed that it would happen, he still flushed in pleasure and went forward hesitantly to take hold of his new vest. When he returned, Sasuke's comrades heartily congratulated him and now the belief that total revenge simply wasn't worth the effort became firmly entrenched into his mind.

"Haruno Sakura, you have gone above and beyond the normal duties expected of a kunoichi and have honestly surpassed even my expectations. I have heard of your ambition, and I believe that if you continue working as you have now, you can become the world's best. You are now a Chuunin, but I imagine that fairly soon that status will become higher. Congratulations!"

Sakura's eyes widened. She then smiled and went to take her vest, murmuring a quiet thanks to the Godaime.

"Hyuuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino. You both have proven to me, without a doubt, that even Kunoichi in peacetime who already have their clan names to fall back on can still compete with the best Shinobi and become even better. You both more than deserve the rank of Chuunin!"

Although it was to be expected somewhat of Ino, Hinata also uncharacteristically squealed as the two girls strode forward to grab their Chuunin vests. Finally, Tsunade cast her imposing gaze upon the last Genin in the room.

"You young sir I'm not even sure should be a Chuunin. You have managed to take out three Jounin and countless other ninja on your own, have faced a terrible burden and rose above and beyond almost everyone's expectations to begin a now infamous group of ninja who may become more famous than the Sannin. It is through your efforts that many of the young Chuunin here today have been promoted and you have helped bring a boon of strength that Konoha may have been desperately lacking otherwise." Tsunade paused dramatically. "Because of these efforts, we, the leaders of Konoha are not satisfied with only awarding you the rank of Chuunin."

Tsunade coughed, many of the new Chuunin gaining veins in their foreheads as she took her time.

"Muhi Naruto. We are pleased to award you the status of a full Chuunin for every one of your main duties, and when in the exclusive role of a teacher you have the rights and privileges of a Tokubetsu Jounin!"

As his new vest was placed around his shoulders, complete with a unique insignia which featured a red Konoha leaf on the back, Naruto only had one coherent thought which he voiced rather loudly.

"HOLY SHIT!"

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When the triumphant new Chuunin emerged from Tsunade's office, they were greeted by shouts of congratulations, cheers, and smiles of approval from their friends and teachers. Tatsu especially was proud as he hoisted his son up from the ground, and despite Naruto's protests, placed the boy on his shoulders. Naruto continued to protest half-heartedly, but a pleased smile adorned his face as his legs wrapped around the neck of his father. Tatsu wasn't done yet though, and amidst squeals and yelps of surprise, he also picked up Sasuke and Sakura, placing them to sit on his two shoulders. The weight now had apparently been too much for the white-haired enigma, as a surprised Tatsu fell face down onto a patch of grass, all three new Chuunin tumbling out of his grasp. The rest of the group simply laughed with joy, with Tatsu and Team 7 joining them shortly after. Gathering swiftly, the group made their way to Havenwood.

Although it was expected, the Kyuunin were still in awe every time they came back to Havenwood. The Jounin sensei, most whom were seeing the place for the first time, stared in surprise, wonder and delight at the home of Naruto and his teacher. These visits started the very day of the attack, when Naruto absolutely insisted that they all could do with a rest. Tatsu looked on in amusement, simply proud that his son was becoming an assertive leader. They were joined of course by the people whom Tatsu had inducted into his 'Muhi Corps', Mitarashi Anko and Tsuchi Kin, as well as three newcomers who Tatsu had ended up 'winning' from Maito Gai; Rock Lee, Hyuuga Neji and Ikegata Tenten had all been put up as 'stakes' in the bets that had been made on fights before the invasion had started and at least two of them were happier for it. They were also joined by the three Suna siblings, as Gaara mentioned that he had some 'business' to discuss with the Muhi clan's patriarch.

While at Havenwood before, the Kyuunin had been simply too busy training to pay much attention to the other rooms that Naruto had shown them on the tour. However, they now had a little vacation and intended to make the most of it.

The males, which included Shino, Chouji, Kiba, Naruto, Sasuke, Lee, Neji and their male sensei's all went to a vast wilderness that existed within Havenwood for some male bonding. The men had a great time as they hiked, fished, swam and generally just played around for the first time in a very long time indeed. The women had a similar experience, but they had spent most of their time in the infamous 'Shrine of Aquarius', as that particular room had pools of water that rivaled Onsen springs. The water in these were heavenly and eventually the males had partaken of this bounty as well.

At the end of the week, they concluded this little 'vacation' with a rousing feast. Drinks were poured by the gallon, vast quantities of food were consumed as eating contests broke out, and slightly inebriated (some due to liquor, others merely from happiness) people of all sorts would often jump onto the dining table and dance, balance plates on their foreheads, juggle or even go for a dusty karaoke machine that had appeared in the corner.

However, the aim of this party, one that Tatsu had specifically been planning for over a week now, was not to be. He had hoped that if he had sufficiently gotten them inebriated enough, the five kunoichi who were considering courting his son would reveal the location of the photo negatives they had gotten of him in his boxers, sucking his thumb and holding onto a stuffed dragon with one arm, the other grasped securely around Mitarashi Anko. Oh, Tatsu wasn't embarrassed holding onto Anko in the slightest, it was what would happen if the other things were revealed, especially to his son.

The only thing that had kept the kunoichi from revealing this secret were two things. The first was that it was partly due to the white-haired man that some of them had been able to become so strong in time for the exams. The second reason had to do with their sudden inquiries into Naruto's mysterious message weeks ago…

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Muhi Tatsu, clad only in his large boxers and a nightshirt, yawned loudly as he settled into a chair. Normally the man would have literally broken whoever tried to get him out of bed (and he had in fact actually broken one of Naruto's fingers once for doing so) but when a half-closed eye noticed a certain photo, he grumpily rose from the bed.

He noticed sleepily that his tormentors were the five girls whom his son had gone courting. While normally Tatsu would have been ecstatic that his son was following in his footsteps, he felt almost no emotions save tired and angry when he was like this. All of them were set down on the couch to his side in Tatsu's private drawing room. Impatient, the man asked, "So? Why'd you wake me up?"

Obviously, the kunoichi had heard of Tatsu's exploits against Yondaime, because they paled as he began to get angry. Sakura hastily cleared her throat.

"As you know, Tatsu-dono, we all received a message from Naruto-kun earlier this week. What we wanted to know about from you was clarification of something specific." Sakura babbled hastily.

Tatsu nodded. "What is it?" While one would think at this point that Tatsu would have sent for coffee or something similar, the man was determined to stay in bed for as long as possible.

Hinata spoke up. "Well, Tatsu-san, Naruto-kun mentions in his message that it's possible that he had the possibility of choosing as much as all of us to court or none of us. What exactly does that mean?"

Still not in the best of moods, Tatsu still did his best. "Well, I thought the last part would be obvious. If it didn't work out, you wouldn't be in a relationship. However, I assume that you all are here about the first part, right?"

All five nodded in unison and Tatsu sighed. Realizing that there was very slim chance of getting back to bed soon, he concentrated for about five seconds and a cup of strong green tea appeared on a side table next to him. Tatsu languidly gulped down the hot tea and he seemed to be in much better spirits when he stopped.

"All right then. To answer your question ladies, the truth of the matter is that technically, Havenwood is it's own independent nation with it's own laws and customs."

"Really?" Temari asked skeptically.

"Really. Havenwood isn't actually part of Konoha or Fire Country because it exists in a space beyond your normal world. No one can get here without permission and anyone who breaks the rules is subject to punishment. We even have our own flag and national symbols." Tatsu described.

Curious, Hinata asked, "What exactly are the laws here, Tatsu-san? None of us has been punished as far as I can tell…" she finished, uncertain.

Tatsu smiled. "No, none of you have. Truthfully, there aren't many laws in Havenwood because the security here is so tight and almost no one can get to where I don't want them to go. Mainly the laws are simple; you can't kill anyone here or you are killed in turn, you can't hurt someone for no good reason, you cannot rape anyone and Sauerkraut is an illegal substance."

The five kunoichi had never heard of the last thing and stared puzzled at Tatsu, who shrugged. "Don't worry about it. Now, Naruto's strange message have to do with the marriage laws here. Truthfully, I don't care that much for marriage, but if anyone wishes, there's a chapel up on the third floor. The only real marriage law here at Havenwood is that people have much more choice than almost anyone else."

Ino gestured as if to continue. "Meaning?"

Tatsu smirked. "Meaning that an official citizen of my nation can marry either male or female, and can marry however many people they want. I support any and all marriage in my laws… I just don't support it myself!" Tatsu chuckled.

Tenten gained a pensive look. "So, what Naruto meant was that if we were willing, he would court all of us and be able to marry any and all of us?"

Tatsu nodded. "That's correct. Now, is that all ladies, or can I go back to bed?" The cup, now drained, vanished into this air out of his hands.

All five kunoichi nodded somberly, now thinking of future possibilities.

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The next day, Naruto had stepped out into Konoha. Apparently, Jiraiya had sent a message saying that he wished to meet him and discuss something. Putting on his clothes, Naruto hurried out and made his way to a secluded park, glancing to his side. When he gazed in front, a scene out of his nightmares emerged.

Directly in front of him were Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame.

"Muhi Naruto… where is your father?"

A/N: A new update? So soon? It must be Armageddon! No, honestly it was just inspiration and wanting to get a new chapter finished before school starts in just a week, that and the games Bioshock and Metroid Prime 3 come out in the next two weeks, meaning likely not much time spent behind the old keyboard.. Hope this is to everyone's liking.

Hopefully, people will find Naruto's origin somewhat more original than the incredibly overused cliché of Yondaime being Naruto's father. While some of you might think that it was OOC for Yondaime, keep in mind that we know next to nothing about Yondaime personally. It's possible that he had the power but not the confidence later; after all, he DID lose Obito.

Pein IS the official name of the Akatsuki 'leader'. While many of the hardcore Naruto fans have bitched and moaned about part two of the series while swearing it off, I don't see it that way. Some things I DO disagree with in part two, but there were also some cool things (Sasori for one) and I've been with Naruto for so long that I can't help but want to see what happens to our little buddy in the end. At least now we'll hopefully see the end of Naruto endlessly chasing after Sasuke and have another Chuunin exam. Or at the very least, learn about Uchiha Madara.

For those of you who wanted some fluff, here it is. No, seriously, there will be some intermission chapters that deal with those things, but hopefully this will tide you over.

Thanks for all of your support, and enjoy the Omake.

OMAKE: Tatsu collects

Normally, today would be considered a peaceful day in Konohagakure no Sato, supposedly the strongest of all five hidden villages. However, if the screams of agony were any indication, anything BUT peace was going on.

Rather than another attack, or a wound being sore however, the screams that were happening today had to do with loss. Namely, with those who had lost and lost big gambling on the results of the Chuunin exam. Tatsu had set up a small booth and was smirking sadistically in the middle of the village square. Various ninja and civilians alike had formed an enormous line stretching to almost a half-mile long while Tatsu's eyes danced in glee as he collected money and objects alike in a growing pile behind him.

Tatsu had already collected several deeds to Akimichi restaurants, three piles of a dozen Ninjutsu, Genjutsu and Taijutsu scrolls, a bathtub, a year's worth of Ichiraku Ramen, the privilege of teaching Maito Gai's students, three dozen shuriken and several daughters from poor fathers. Finally, it was Hatake Kakashi's turn.

"Okay Kakashi, according to my files, you owe me at least 3000 Ryo in money or objects." Tatsu informed him.

Kakashi reached into one of his pockets, taking out both his wallet and a new Icha Icha Tactics book entitled: Lust is a Battlefield! He counted out some money, then sighed.

"Sorry, Tatsu-san, it looks as though I'm short fifty ryou. Can you help me out here?" The copy-nin pleaded.

Tatsu gestured his thumb towards a sign on his little stand which read:

CREDIT IS ONLY ACCUMULATED PRAISE IN THE EYES OF THE MUHI. WE DON'T ACCEPT IT AND NEITHER SHOULD YOU!

Kakashi sighed again. "Well, what else do I have that's worth that much? I can't pay you if I don't have anything."

Tatsu gave a sinister chuckle. "There is always that book of yours there…"

Yet again, the village having had lost count of simply how much it had occurred that day, another scream wrought the air.


	18. Note to readers

To the faithful readers of Mind's Eye, I have both some good and bad news for you.

First, the bad news. I will not be continuing this story in it's current state, as inspiration and the story itself have basically dried up. My muse looks at it and says "You can do better."

HOWEVER…

The good news is that the story will be coming back in a rewritten form, one with a more than decent plot, this taking current Naruto events into account and will have more conflict. Some parts however I realize do need to be changed; even I admit that the idea of Naruto being a Yondaime clone is pretty ridiculous now, especially when I go back and see that Yamato just had one of his gene sequences alterned.

So stay tuned to the author alert. Fairly soon the new version will come.

MuhiTatsu.


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